


After Siberia

by notjustmom



Series: January 2019 [9]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Eventual Tony Stark/May Parker, F/M, Gen, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Rating bump in chapter 18, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-18
Updated: 2019-02-12
Packaged: 2019-10-12 07:09:54
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 30
Words: 26,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17462948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notjustmom/pseuds/notjustmom
Summary: Tony visits Peter after he returns from Siberia, before he goes back to the Avengers base.





	1. Chapter 1

“Hey, May.” Tony tries to hide behind his dark glasses and what he hopes is one of his brightest grins, but he knows she can see through him. Even though they’ve only met once, he knows she can see everything, and with a sigh, removes the dark shades, and slips them into his pocket, then looks up to meet sympathetic eyes. The first he’s seen in days.

“Did the bullies in your neighborhood get the jump on you too?” She crosses her arms at him, then rolls her eyes, but takes him gently by the elbow, then looks down the hallway to make sure no one has followed him, and guides him inside the tiny, but neat apartment and closes the door. “Peter! Mr. Stark is here to see you.”

“Hey! Tony, what the -? I mean - Mr. Stark, what the hell?”

“Language, kid.” He groans as he drops onto the couch, realizing how much he sounds like Rogers, even now, after everything.

Peter can tell he’s hurting from far more than the physical injuries, and he is at a loss of how to help the man who has become more or less a father-figure to him, so he clears his throat at May and she takes the hint.

“Tell you what, boys, I ran out of bandages and antibiotic ointment the other day. I’ll just pop over to the corner store, and, Peter - get Mr. Stark a drink, and there are those cookies I made yesterday. Be back soon.” She shakes her head at the two of them, but grabs her wallet and keys, shrugs into her jacket and leaves without another word.

“Sir -”

“You can drop the sir, kid.” 

“Cap?”

“It was the dynamic duo, actually.” With some effort, Tony manages to remove his coat and toss it on the back of the couch. “If it had just been Cap - dunno. I just wanted to make sure you were okay - no, to be honest, yeah, that too. But I just needed a friendly face.”

“You know I’ll always have your back, Mr. Stark.”

Tony looks over at him and Peter sees the mix of gratitude and disbelief in his eyes. “Cookies - her chocolate chip cookies are better than her walnut date loaf. Cookies and milk, always helps me feel better.”

Tony manages a real smile for the first time in days, then closes his eyes for a minute. When he opens them again, Peter is holding a plate of cookies and a glass of milk in front of him. “Seriously, Mr. Stark. I know I’m just me, but if you ever need backup again, I’m your guy.”

“Thanks, kid, I appreciate it. I really do.” He takes the plate and glass from him and nods at the chair next to him. “I did want to see how you were - I honestly didn’t think - I wouldn’t have taken you with me to Berlin, if I had realized how bad it was going to go. Should have known. You more than held your own though, I was proud, am proud of you, kid, want you to know that. Listen, can I call you Pete? I’d call you Spidey, but -”

“She knows.”

“It was only a matter of time, Pete. Pepper caught me after my first mission, it’s not easy trying to save the world and keep up the disguise at the same time.”

Peter laughs and shakes his head in agreement. “No, it’s not easy at all, Mr. Stark. Eat up, she’ll be home soon. She has a whole stash of medical supplies in the closet, she just wanted to give you a minute. Don’t worry, she probably won’t yell at you too much, just growl a bit, and she can’t ground you.”

Tony snorts, then winces before he asks quietly, “how long she give you?”

“Started at a day past forever, but as she patched me up, she talked herself down to a week.” Peter shrugs. “But, it’s better than being on my own. Shit, I didn’t mean -”

“It’s okay. There are days when I wish there was someone around to ground me. It’ll be a month at least before the ribs, okay, more like two or three months - thanks, Pete.”

“Huh? For what?”

“For being human. Just for being here.”

“Any time, Mr. Stark.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> an invitation...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> note the new relationship tags...

“We should invite Mr. Stark for dinner this week.”

“Hmm?” May looks up from her laptop and sighs at her nephew. “I’ve read that he and Ms. Potts recently split up. He may need some time -”

“Just dinner, May. You know he’s having a rough time right now.”

“I know. It’s just, don’t get your hopes up, kiddo.”

“What are you talking about?”

“When he stopped by the other day, he just wanted a friendly face.”

“I know.”

“He’s probably busy, and he -” May drops her glasses back down on her nose and tries to go back to her work.

“He what?” Peter prodded.

“Nothing.”

“May.”

“He’s used to more.”

“More?”

“I mean what could I, I mean what could we offer him -?”

“What if we were just his friends, May? He might have a lot of well, everything else, but I think he might be short of friends at the moment.”

“Peter.”

“You saw -”

“Yeah, I did. I know -” She sighs as he gives her his best unloved puppy look and wonders who he learned it so well from. “Fine. Stop with the eyes, Peter Parker, I already said fine.”

Peter grins at her and kisses her cheek, then watches as May hurriedly types out a brief email and sends it before she loses her nerve.

 

“F.R.I.D.A.Y.”

“Boss.”

“Hypothetically, if one wanted to apologize, no, not apologize, precisely -”

“Your recent visit to the Parkers?”

Tony sighs and stretches back in his chair before he remembers his ribs are still healing. He swears to himself as quietly as he can, but knows F.R.I.D.A.Y can hear him.

“You had a good time.”

“It was - yeah, it’s been a long time since anyone was just kind to me, for no reason.”

“Boss. They are your friends, are they not?”

“Friends. I’m not sure I know how to be friends with people, F.R.I.D.A.Y.”

“Incoming email, Boss, from May Parker.”

“Read it.”

“Boss. ‘Dear Mr. Stark, Peter and I would like to invite you to dinner at our place tomorrow night, if you aren’t too busy. We understand if you have other commitments, but if you don’t mind spaghetti and meatballs, just let us know. We hope you are feeling better.’ - May”

“Dinner?”

“The evening meal, Boss.”

Tony rolls his eyes and groans out, “yes, F.R.I.D.A.Y. I do know what dinner is.”

“Shall I R.S.V.P in the affirmative, then?”

Tony nods, then changes his mind. “I’ll do it myself.”

“Your fingers, Boss.”

Tony looks at his hands, still shaking from the events in Siberia, and pulls out his phone. “Hey, May? It’s Tony, yeah, dinner sounds great, I love spaghetti and meatballs. Can I bring anything? Dessert? Sure. 7? See you then. Thanks, May.” He ends the call, drops the phone onto his desk and runs his fingers through his hair, finding it hard to catch his breath.

“Boss.”

“Yeah, F.R.I.D.A.Y.”

“Just dinner, Boss.”

“Right, yeah, just dinner.”


	3. Chapter 3

“May?” Peter freezes as he comes home from school to find her scrolling through recipes on Pinterest. _“What are you doing?” ___

____

____

“I thought I might just see what else I could -” she looks up at him and rolls her eyes. “Spaghetti and meatballs?”

“Please?”

“Spoilsport.” May sighs, but walks over to him and ruffles his hair. “Fine. It’ll be fine. Don’t worry.”

“Thanks, May.”

“Don’t you have homework?”

 

“...a date? What the hell am I doing, Rhodey?”

“Sounds like it’s just dinner.”

“You know I don’t do this kind of thing. I’m not sure, Rhodey, if I know how.” Tony sighs as he walks slowly next to his friend, staying close in case he wears himself out and falls during his rehab.

“It’s been months now since -” Rhodey stops talking before he mentions Pepper; but Tony still freezes next to him, just long enough to let Rhodey know he’s overstepped. “Shit. Sorry, Tony. It’s just dinner, and to be honest, you need to get out, even if it’s just for one night, nothing is happening right now, and you haunting this place isn’t doing you or anyone else any good.”

“Trying to get rid of me, hmm?”

Rhodey stops walking and shakes his head. “Ever since you’ve been back from Siberia, even before then, you’ve been hiding here, you know I appreciate you being here for me, but you aren’t sleeping or eating, you’re neglecting your work. I haven’t seen you go into the workshop once -”

“What’s the point, Rhodey?” Tony asks him quietly. “It has been made clear by certain parties that I am not needed, oh, sorry, that _Iron Man _is not needed, and my advice isn’t either.”__

____

____

“Tony.”

“I’m fine, Rhodey. Really. Good talk. I’ll get Vision to help you finish here, I have to go pick up dessert. What goes with spaghetti and meatballs?”

 

Peter jumps up from the couch when the doorbell rings, and throws open the door. “Mr. Stark. Flowers? For me?” 

“Cute, Kid. Sorry if I’m a bit early. It’s been, let’s just say it’s been a while…” He takes a deep breath in and closes his eyes. “Is that garlic bread I smell? When I was your age, I could have lived on the stuff, actually I think I did.” He gives Peter the bag of ice cream, and the flowers, then takes off his glasses, shoving them in his pocket and he smiles as May enters the room. “Thank you for inviting me, May. I wasn’t sure what kind of ice cream you liked, so I got a bit of everything.”

May smiles at him and takes the flowers from Peter. “Irises. They’re lovely. Let me put them in water. I heard you say you like garlic bread? It’s kind of my specialty.”

“It was one thing my mom made really well. I never understood -” He looks at May, and sees something in her eyes, perhaps compassion, and he stops, then shrugs out of his jacket. “Is there a place I can hang this -”

"The coat rack there by the door. Dinner’s almost ready, the bathroom is down the hall and to your right -”

“Right. Thanks, and, thanks again for having me. I’ll be right back.” He hangs up his jacket, then heads into the bathroom, closes the door, then leans against it and shuts his eyes.

_Breathe.. just breathe. It’s just dinner. Just breathe. ___


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a short bit...

Breathe. 

Breathing is something he shouldn’t have to think about. Except these days it hurts, and he knows it’s because his ribs are slowly healing, not because his heart is actually broken. He’s been through it enough times to know that one day it won’t hurt quite so much, and he won’t have to remind himself to breathe.

Breathe.

He looks in the mirror and sees that the bruises have mostly faded, just a pale yellowish green now, and when they are gone, he can pretend that nothing happened.

Dinner. 

He turns on the water, and washes his hands and dries them, then catches his reflection in the mirror again and offers it a smile, then turns out the light and walks out the door.

Breathe.

“So, Peter, how was school today?”

Twenty minutes and a half loaf of garlic bread later, he forgets to remind himself to breathe, and he hears someone who sounds remarkably like him laughing as if he doesn’t have a care in the world. 

“Leave room for dinner, hmm?”

He turns and sees a woman, not Pepper, but an attractive, intelligent woman, smiling at him, and he remembers to smile back, and to his surprise, it doesn’t hurt, the world hasn’t crumbled around him, and the universe hasn’t ended, so he laughs again and remembers to breathe.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After dinner, and Peter has gone to finish his homework...

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Tony stares into the melting remains of his second bowl of chocolate chocolate chip ice cream and shakes his head. “Not really, no.”

“He looks up to you, and not just because you’re who you are. Of course that’s part of it. But you are the first person to really treat him like a person. I know who you are -.”

“Yeah, I’m sure you do.” Tony drops his spoon into his bowl, then carries it to the sink, and rinses it out, then turns around and leans against the counter. “Must be nice to know everything.”

“Not what I meant.” May starts to get up from her chair and he looks over at her, and shrugs.

“Doesn’t matter in the least.”

“He wants to be like you.”

“Like me. You don’t want him to be like me. He doesn’t want to be like me. Hell, I don’t want to be me -” he watches her face change and shakes his head. “No. I’m too arrogant and selfish to do anything like that. I’m constantly reminded of that fact by most of the people who know me best. Look. He’s a good kid. He’s got mad skills, and I was running out of options when I took him to Berlin. It was stupid and I apologize.”

“How many times have you done that?”

“Done what?”

“Apologize,” May says quietly.

“Not as often as I should, and far too often to some people. Listen. Tonight was nice, one of best nights I’ve had in months. Tell Peter… you know he’s not going to stop being who he is, doing what he’s doing, don’t you?”

May nods. “I was hoping -”

“There is nothing I can say or do that will stop him -”

“I don’t want you to.”

Tony blinks at her for a moment, then walks back over to the table and drops heavily into his chair.

“I’m not like him, May; he wants to save the world, or at least his little part of it. But it doesn’t work like that. When I - started, it was with the best of intentions, and I thought I could do it on my own, thought I had all the answers, and I’ve learned the hard way that I know very little at all, about anything.”

May reaches out and covers his hand with hers, and feels him tremble at her touch. “I’m sorry.”

“No -”

“I’m sorry that people have hurt you so badly.”

“May. Please.”

“He needs someone who understands what it’s like to be different, I can patch him up, keep his secret, try to keep things as normal as possible for him, but I don’t really understand what it’s like to be him. He’s only fourteen, Tony, he needs -”

“He needs someone better than me.”

“No. He needs you, and I think you know that.-”

“I don’t want to be responsible for him, May. I never wanted to become responsible for anyone else, but I did. I became responsible for all of them - they became my family. I thought they were my family and I let them down -”

“And they let you down, you trusted them.”

“I thought it would be better if we weren’t needed. I tried for the big easy fix, so I could, I don’t know, so I could have a normal life. That was selfish, and it cost too much, May, and oddly enough, after everything, a few weeks of ‘normal life’ or what I considered ‘normal life’ for me was beyond boring, and she saw that. I forgot that human beings usually default to violence, to war, it is our natural state. Peace. I’m no good at peace and quiet.”

“You are needed.”

“No. I’m really not.”

“Tony.” He lifts his gaze to meet her eyes and she sees the honest pain in his, and moves her hand. “How do you feel about meatloaf?”

He is startled into a disbelieving snort and repeats, “meatloaf?”

“Thursday nights I make meatloaf. If you aren’t too busy, you are welcome to suffer through my meatloaf.”

He laughs again as he rises from his chair and walks over to where his coat is hanging. “I’m a big fan of meatloaf, actually.” He grabs his coat off the hook and nods to her. “Thank you, May. Tell Peter, I’ll - “ He sighs to himself and shakes his head. “I’ll be in touch.” He unlocks the five locks on the door, then turns back to face her. “These are - I have some better locks in my shop at home, I’ll be back on Thursday to install them, if that’s okay with you?”

“Thursday’s fine.”

“Right.” He turns away and walks out the door, then closes it behind him without a backward glance.

“Smooth, May, real smooth.” She gets up from the table, finishes the dishes and goes to bed.


	6. Chapter 6

Tony sits in his car and closes his eyes. 

_Breathe._

__“Boss?”_ _

__“Yes, F.R.I.D.A.Y.?”_ _

__“How did your date go?”_ _

__“Fine. And it wasn’t a date. Just dinner.”_ _

__“And? Will there be other dinners?”_ _

__“Thursday. Meatloaf. And I’m installing better locks on their door.”_ _

__“So, dinner went well, then, Boss?”_ _

__Tony sighs as he starts the car, “yeah, F.R.I.D.A.Y. it went well. Too well, I’m afraid.”_ _

__“Boss?”_ _

__“Never mind.”_ _

__

__“So…?” Peter looks over at May the next morning as he starts to eat his cereal._ _

__“So, what?”_ _

__“May…”_ _

__“Peter.”_ _

__“May. It’s been -”_ _

__“Five years.”_ _

__“I know it’s none of my business, but -”_ _

__“It’s none of your beeswax, mister.” She watches him droop around his bowl, and she rolls her eyes. “I know you worry. It’s not your job to worry about me.” She reaches over and ruffles his hair and he grins at her. “I larb you, sweet boy. He’s coming on Thursday -”_ _

__“He’s coming over for meatloaf?”_ _

__“To install new locks on the front door.”_ _

__“How romantic….” Peter smirks at her, then becomes serious. “I just thought, both of you could use a friend. He’s a good guy, and you’re you. Life is hard enough, but it’s even harder without friends.”_ _

__“When did you get so wise, Peter Parker?”_ _

__He shrugs and mutters, “I have good teachers, and good friends, I just want the two people I like best to stop being so lonely.” He finishes his cereal, puts his bowl in the sink, grabs his backpack, then kisses May’s offered cheek and heads out the door._ _

__

__Tony walks into the compound and finds Vision lost in thought. He hasn’t slept well in days and isn’t in the mood for whatever is on Vision’s mind, but walks over to the couch and drops into it, then waits._ _

__“Companionship,” Vision begins._ _

__“Yes.”_ _

__“It is complicated for humans.”_ _

__Tony snorts. “It is. It shouldn’t be. Some people make it more complicated than others.”_ _

__“Why do you think this to be true?”_ _

__“In general, or specifically for myself?”_ _

__“In general.”_ _

__“In general, simple fear.”_ _

__“Fear, Sir?”_ _

__Tony nods. “Fear of not being good enough -”_ _

__“What does fear feel like?”_ _

__Tony blinks at the - what is Vision, precisely? He still isn’t quite sure, even now. At this point though, he is willing to consider Vision as a _he _as opposed to an it. “You said that at the airport you had become distracted.”___ _

____“I do apologize for that -”_ _ _ _

____“Why were you distracted?”_ _ _ _

____“Why?”_ _ _ _

____“Yes, what or who distracted you?”_ _ _ _

____“Wanda. I felt, as odd as it may sound, torn, between my duty to you and my - I suppose you would call them feelings for her, I was concerned for her well-being, and yet I knew she was on the wrong side at that moment.”_ _ _ _

____“You were concerned for her.”_ _ _ _

____“Yes.”_ _ _ _

____“What did you feel at that moment?”_ _ _ _

____“Feel, Sir?”_ _ _ _

____“Physically, did you experience anything out of your normal parameters?_ _ _ _

____“Yes, I do not know how to explain it, my circuitry felt overheated, until I knew she was safe, relatively speaking.”_ _ _ _

____“That essentially is what it feels like when one feels fear.”_ _ _ _

____“Ah. I see. And humans walk around in that state often?”_ _ _ _

____“Most of the time, I think,” Tony sighs._ _ _ _

____“When do you experience it, Sir?”_ _ _ _

____“Me?” Tony leans back against the couch and closes his eyes. “Last night, I was afraid of buying the wrong ice cream, so I bought six half gallons. I was afraid of buying the wrong flowers, so I bought the most expensive flowers I could find. I still don’t know what flowers she actually likes, I was afraid to ask. You’d think I’d be afraid when I put on the armor, I’m not. It’s like I’m not me anymore when I’m Iron Man, but the day I asked Pepper to marry me, that was the most terrified I’d ever been in my life. I was afraid she’d say no, and I was more afraid she’d say yes. I guess I’m just afraid of letting people know who I am, to be honest, I’m not even sure who that is anymore.” He sits up and rubs his eyes, then realizes he has been having the most honest conversation of his life with an android he helped to create. “Figures.”_ _ _ _

____“Sir?”_ _ _ _

____“It’s nothing. I’ve just been burning the candle at both ends for too long.”_ _ _ _

____“Burning the candle?”_ _ _ _

____“Search your database, just a colloquialism, means I need a nap.”_ _ _ _

____“Ah. Yes. I see. Humans. They rarely say what they mean, or say the things that need to be said.”_ _ _ _

____Tony gazes at the figure in front of him for a moment, then nods and gets to his feet, and places his hand on Vision’s shoulder, then walks out of the room, and for the first time in a week, slips off his shoes and tumbles into bed, and manages to sleep for eight hours before the nightmares come to visit._ _ _ _


	7. Chapter 7

“Tony?” 

“I know it’s not Thursday, but I had nothing else to do today. Crap. Sorry. Not what I meant to say.”

“Have you had coffee yet? Or eaten anything today?” She can see the answer in his eyes, and opens the door all the way, and touches his arm to invite him in.

“Put the box down and sit.”

Tony puts the box down and drops into the chair, removes his sunglasses and rubs his eyes. 

“Milk?”

“No, thanks.”

“One of those, then?”

“One of -?”

“You drink coffee for the taste?” May grins at him as she places the mug in front of him.

“God, no. Just habit. Can’t seem to drink it any other way now.”

She sits down across from him and sees the dark the circles under his eyes. “Are you sure it’s coffee you need?”

He looks up at her and shrugs. “Slept at the wrong time yesterday, managed eight hours, until -” he wraps his hands around the mug and stares into it.

“Nightmare?”

He nods and clears his throat. “Siberia.” She reaches out her hand to him and he places a trembling hand over hers, and holds onto it tightly. “I don’t trust easily, and I don’t have a lot of friends, but I thought - I trusted him, May. He knew, he knew, May, and he didn’t tell me, he just stood there as I - I couldn’t -” He pulls his hand away and shakes his head. “Sorry. I don’t -”

May gets up and walks over to him, and offers him her hand. “Come with me.”

“May?”

“Just come with me, Tony.” 

He looks into her eyes, then takes her hand and follows her into her bedroom.

“May -”

“Sit.”

“I -”

“Sit.”

He sits on the edge of the bed and watches as she kneels in front of him and removes his shoes, and places them aside, then helps him out of his jacket. “I know it’s the wrong time of day, sweetie, but you need to sleep. I’ll wake you up before Peter gets home. Maybe you can teach him how to install locks. I know locksmiths make a bundle, and if the superhero gig doesn’t pan out -” Her words fade as he stretches out on the bed and closes his eyes.

“Thank you, May,” he manages to mumble out before his breathing changes and she knows he’s asleep. She grabs an extra blanket from her closet and drapes it over him, then tiptoes out of the room, leaving the door open so she can hear him if he needs her. If he needs her, damn May, just because he came here - he’s just lonely, and needs someone - anyone would do. Means nothing. Yes, he’s - he’s who he is, and he’s got nice eyes and… “Laundry, need to fold laundry and clean the bathroom, you have things to do.”

 

“NO! Please…. Noooooo….”

“Tony.”

“Nooooo. Don’t…”

May reaches out and places her hand on Tony’s shoulder. “Tony, you’re safe. It’s May, Tony. You’re in my apartment. You’re safe, Tony.”

“May?” Tony takes a shuddering breath, then turns his head and sees her, then falls back into the pillow. “May. I’m sorry. Did I -”

“No. You just had a bad dream.”

“Damn.” He looks at his watch then sits up and throws his legs over the side of the bed. “It’s three o’clock?”

“Yeah.”

Tony blinks at her, then looks away. “I did come here to install the locks. When I can’t sleep, I tinker, but ever since I’ve been back I haven’t been able to - I came here because you’re safe. That sounds wrong, somehow. I mean, I came here because I knew you would understand, because you are you. Sorry. As much as I like to talk, I’m not good at -”

“Hungry?”

Tony glances up at her and offers her a lopsided grin. “Yeah, I actually am. About Pete - “

“He knows you’re having a hard time right now, he’s a smart kid, but you know that. Just be honest with him, and he’d be thrilled to help you put in the new locks. He doesn’t think any less of you, you know, and neither do I.”

“Thank you, May.”

“What for?”

“People, most people, in my experience are kind to me because they expect something in return, you seem to be kind because you are genuinely a kind person. I haven’t met many in my life, so thank you -”

“I do, actually, want something from you.”

“Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah. A promise. Next time you have trouble sleeping, promise me, you’ll call me, or just come over.”

“May.”

“Promise me.”

“Do you know what you are getting yourself into?”

May sits on the bed and gingerly places her hand on his knee. “Yeah, I think I have a pretty good idea.”

He sighs, but covers her hand with his and twines their fingers together, then nods. “I promise.”

“Good, let’s eat.”


	8. Chapter 8

“Mr. Stark?” Peter blinks at him as he is taking out the old hardware on the door of the apartment. “It’s not -”

“Hey, Pete. I know it's not meatloaf night, just thought I’d get a head start on this, if you aren’t too busy I could use an extra hand or two?”

“Uhm. Yeah, right, Mr. -”

“Pete, if it’s okay with you, I don’t mind if you call me Tony. ‘Mr. Stark’ was my dad. I’m just Tony, at least here anyway.”

“Yeah, sure, let me just put my bag down, and eat something -”

“Right.” Tony grins at him and shakes his head. “I forgot, you’re a teenager, well, there’s plenty of ice cream from the other night still.”

“Is May around?”

“She went out, grocery shopping. I think she wanted to give us a chance to talk.”

“Talk?” Peter drops his bag and walks into the kitchen to grab a bottle of juice from the fridge.

Tony puts his tools back into his toolbox and gets to his feet, then closes the door. “Yeah. She thinks, I don’t know, that I have some wisdom I can impart to you.” He shrugs and collapses into a chair at the table.

“Wisdom?” Peter pulls out a chair next to him and drops into it. “Like -”

“Here’s the thing, Pete, I’ve learned by making loads and loads of mistakes, a few small ones that not a lot of people know about, it took a lot of time and work to create Iron Man, and I did it on my own, like what you are doing. Then I made some very big, public mistakes, and because I’m who I am, and people know who I am, they became massive mistakes -”

“But, wait - it wasn’t just you - I mean -”

“No. But it’s easy to make me the fall guy; the ‘genius, billionaire, philanthropist’ who destroyed Manhattan and then Sokovia - and broke up the Avengers.”

“Mr. - Tony.”

“Pete, I asked you before I took you to Berlin, why you wear the suit. You have all the skills, you just need time to make your own mistakes, figure things out, and I just, I don’t know, I’m not sure how I can help you.”

“When you drew up the plans for Iron Man - you did it because -”

“No one else was going to rescue me, if I was going to get out of that cave, I had to do it myself.”

“And when you realized what you could do -”

Tony gets up from the table and goes into the kitchen, and grabs a half gallon of ice cream out of the freezer, then gets two bowls out. “Probably not the best snack, but I need ice cream. Short answer: I thought I knew better than anyone else. How to fix things. It was arrogant -”

“Why did you do it?”

“Why?” Tony starts scooping ice cream into the bowls, and stops. “Why?”

“Yeah - to be famous? You were already famous. Not for endorsements. You have more money than God, if God had money -”

“To be honest, when I got home, I redesigned the suit and used it because I was pissed off.” He shrugs and continues scooping. “I wanted revenge. Plain and simple. Then I thought, or believed I could do good with it, and I think I honestly tried.” He puts the ice cream back in the freezer and carries the bowls to the table. “Not to change the subject, but what is May’s favorite flower?”

Peter glances around the apartment, then shakes his head and laughs before he takes the bowl from Tony. “Genius, hmm?”

Tony sits down and looks around the small dining room and finally sees sunflowers on nearly every surface, down to the place mats on the table. “I’m an idiot.”

“No, not an idiot. They are her favorite because my Uncle Ben gave them to her on their first date, because she reminded him of the sun - damn.” Peter lowers his gaze and drops his spoon into the bowl. “I couldn’t help him -”

“How old were you?”

“I was nine. Cops said it was random, bad luck. A guy broke in, when we were asleep, wore a ski mask over his face, I never saw his face - Uncle Ben tried to stop him, guy pulled a gun. If I had been stronger then, like I am now, I might have been able to help him. She didn’t get to say goodbye to him. He was a good guy, the best, Tony, and there wasn’t anything I could do then - so now - now that I can do the stuff I can do…”

“Yeah. I hear you, Pete.” Tony reaches over and rests his hand on Peter’s shoulder. “I’m sorry about your Uncle Ben.”

“Thanks.” Peter looks over at him and swears under his breath.

“Language, kiddo.”

“It’s just, I think you’re pretty cool too. I didn’t mean -”

“No, it’s okay, Pete, I understand. So -”

“Irises are excellent.”

“Yeah? Good. Eat your ice cream, then I’ll teach you how to install a deadbolt.”

“Cool.”

 

“Hey, it’s me.”

“Hey, you. Thank you for the new locks, I know Peter feels much safer now.”

“And you?”

“Yeah, me too.”

“Good. I just called to thank you for today. It’s been a while since -”

“Me too.”

“I just don’t want to do anything -”

“My favorite color is orange. Ice cream anything with chocolate in it. Favorite movie is Blazing Saddles. I love action movies and the occasional chick flick, but not the extra weepy ones, so don’t worry. I like beer. Can’t stand wine, gives me a headache. I prefer Italian over Thai, but I’ll try anything once. I take my coffee with -”

“Milk and three sugars.”

“You noticed.”

“I noticed. Favorite color is red. Ditto on the ice cream. Favorite movie is anything with Katherine Hepburn in it. Action movies are okay, and I’ve learned to appreciate chick flicks. I prefer Scotch, but like a good craft beer. Love Italian, and meatloaf, so I’m obviously adventurous.” He hears her laugh on the other end, and can’t help but smile. 

“Still on for tomorrow then, at seven?”

“Tomorrow at seven. Irises okay?”

“Irises are perfect. Are you in bed?”

“Yes.”

“Honestly?”

“Honestly.”

“Close your eyes.”

“May.”

“Close your eyes. Are they closed?”

“Closed.”

“Think about the best thing that happened to you today, and take a deep breath.”

“May.”

“It’s how I get Peter to sleep when he’s afraid to.”

“I’m not afraid -”

“Think and breathe.”

Tony considers his day and suddenly finds breathing isn’t quite so difficult, then slowly drifts off to sleep.

“Night, Tony.” May listens to him mumble in his sleep for a minute, then snore, and she ends the call.


	9. Chapter 9

Tony walks into his office, still not sure why he has one, it was Pepper’s idea for those times when he needed to appear more grown-up, something in between superhero and mechanic. He isn’t sure what he is at the moment, but drops into the leather chair and picks up the Fed-Ex box that’s been sitting there for a couple of days. Hell. He knows it’s from Rogers, even though there isn’t a return address on it, it’s just what he would do, find a way to have the last word. He knows he should open it, he’s sure it’s been scanned, it wouldn’t have made it past Happy’s security system if there is anything suspicious about it, but he opens the bottom drawer of his desk, drops in the box and slams it shut with his foot. Not today, old man.

 

“How does one forgive?” Vision asks as he enters the kitchen, before he even turns on the coffee maker.

Tony leans against the kitchen counter and crosses his arms as he tries to consider the question objectively, then shrugs. “I’m probably not the best person to ask.”

“Perhaps it is the wrong question. Why should one forgive someone who has injured them in some way?”

Tony turns towards the coffee maker, adds enough coffee for six people, and switches it on, then walks over to the table that can easily fit twelve around it, and drops into the chair across from Vision. Since Bruce is incommunicado for the foreseeable future, it has fallen to him of all people to guide Vision’s development, especially where ‘people skills’ are involved. He snorts and shakes his head at the idea, then tries to find the words that will help Vision make sense of a concept that he still can’t wrap his brain and heart around.

“I think the idea is that if you forgive someone for hurting you, you can begin to heal yourself.”

“Have you forgiven Wanda?” Vision asks quietly.

“It’s not a question of forgiveness. It’s that I understand her anger, and I know that most of what she did wasn’t her fault. I don’t think it matters that much if I forgive her at this point, and the argument could be made that she was more sinned against than sinning. I did my best to keep her safe, to protect her, I thought that would be enough, but that seems to be my default to protect my family, whether they want that protection is the question, and perhaps I overstepped.” 

“You consider the Avengers your family.”

“Of course I do. A dysfunctional piping hot mess of a family, but it’s what I have. Had.”

“And Rogers?”

“What about Rogers?” Tony mutters as he gets up from the table and pours out a mug of coffee.

“Have you forgiven him yet?”

“I don’t know if that will be possible.”

“Even for your own well-being, Sir?”

“There are lines - we both went too far, Vision. Trust. There should be trust, an understanding - there are lines that once they are crossed, you cannot go back to the way things were before.”

“Perhaps in time -?”

Tony turns and faces Vision, and sees something close to empathy in his eyes, already he is becoming something more than just a keeper of the Mind Stone, not quite human, but perhaps something better. “I’m not sure I’m a strong enough person to -”

“Begin again?”

“Honestly, Vision, I don’t know if I can. Every time -”

“Each time you learn, yes?”

“Yes, and if I could change who I am, rewire myself into someone who can let go of the past, maybe someday -”

“Would you if it were possible?”

“Would I rewire myself?” He considers the idea for a moment, then shakes his head. “No, Vision, I like myself a bit too much to do that.” He smiles at Vision who grins at him in return. He drinks his coffee, then washes out his mug and goes back to his office, closing the door behind him. He closes his eyes, and takes a deep breath, then walks back over to his desk, opens the drawer and pulls out the package, ripping it open before he can change his mind again. 

 

Tony -

I heard through the grapevine that you were back at the compound. It’s good that you aren’t alone right now. I should have told you about your parents so you didn’t have to find out the way you did. That was inexcusable. I thought I was trying to spare you the pain of knowing what happened, and I should have done something to stop it - once I understood, but I froze, and I know what followed was unforgivable. I’m sorry I hurt you. Perhaps one day I can say it to your face, until that time, I’ve enclosed a phone with a number where you can reach me should you ever need my help. You probably won’t, but in case you do - we are still family, Stark, whether you believe it or not -

 

Tony upended the box and couldn’t help but laugh as a flip phone tumbled out. “Only Rogers would buy a flip phone.”

 

"What are your thoughts on forgiveness?" Tony asks May as they are washing the dishes after dinner.

She looks over at him as she hands him a plate to dry and studies his face. She knows, or thinks she knows some of his history, as his life has been tabloid fodder for decades now, but thinks his question has more to do with the recent past than old perceived injustices. "Honestly, I don't know. I think it's easier to forgive your enemies than your friends, but I'm still working on forgiving the kid who killed Ben. It's been five years, and I still can't do it. I guess I'm of the mind that true forgiveness isn't something people are capable of. Especially if it's someone you had put your trust in, and that trust is broken, and if it's someone you liked and had respect for -"

"I could have killed him," Tony mumbles to himself.

"You didn't." May turns off the water and takes the plate from his hands before he snaps it in two.

"I wanted to. I was so angry that I didn't care about anything but hurting him, even though I knew -"

"You knew what?" She dries off the plate and puts it in the cabinet, then looks over at him, and she can feel the anger radiate from him.

"That it wouldn't change anything, but in those few minutes, I didn't care. I didn't care about anything but causing him pain."

"Sounds like you need to forgive yourself first."

"Thing is, I don't know what I'd do if he was standing in front of me right now. I'm still too angry -"

"Tony. You need to give yourself time."

"What if there isn't time, what if -" May reaches up and places her hand on his face and he blinks, then stares down at her.

"I've wasted years on 'what ifs'. You need to give yourself time to heal, the rest of the world be damned."

"But -" May rests a finger on his lips, and that single touch seems to short-circuit his brain, as he has no idea what he was going to say next, and he finds he doesn't care as her hand is now resting lightly on his arm and she's smiling at him.

"Stay, I found a Hepburn movie in my collection, Jimmy Stewart and Cary Grant -"

"The Philadelphia Story, 1940. Stewart won an Oscar, Hepburn should've won, my dad met her once, she told him off. I would've liked to have seen that."

"Stay?" May asks this time, and he nods, then takes her hand and lifts it to his lips.

"Thank you, again," he murmurs before he presses his lips over her wrist, then freezes. "I'm sorry -"

"Don't be. Movie?"

"Please."


	10. Chapter 10

"Spill it." Rhodey mutters as he falls into his chair after another round of rehab.

"Spill what?" 

"Come on, I didn't become stupid or blind when I fell out of the sky. I know you, Tony. You're sleeping again, and I caught you grinning while you were on the phone this morning. Who is she?"

"It's not - we're not -"

"Tony."

"It's May."

"May. Peter's Aunt May? Are you out of your mind? No, I know you're out of your mind, but seriously?"

"She's just a friend, Rhodey."

"Since when -" 

"Is it so impossible to believe that I could -" Tony glares at his friend for a moment, then shrugs. "Last night, she made meatloaf, and I helped her clean up afterward and we watched The Philadelphia Story, and I fell asleep on her couch. I made breakfast for her and Peter and dropped him off at school before I came back here. She's different, Rhodey."

"You just broke up with Pepper, Tony -"

"She broke up with me, remember? She's the one who walked out, and I didn't stop her, because I knew she was done. I waited too long, and made too many mistakes."

"Tony."

"May and I are friends, Rhodey, that's all. For now. I talk and she listens, and then she says what she thinks, and she smiles at me, and makes me laugh, and I remember that not everything is so rotten. That there are good things in the world, and good people -"

"What about Peter?"

"What about Pete? He's like I was at that age, but smarter, and better. He's a better person than I'll ever be, and he's not yet fifteen, James, and yet he wants to be like me. Crazy, right?"

"No, Tony." Rhodey shakes his head and smiles at him. "Not crazy at all. Just be careful, yeah? I know that look, Stark, and right now everything is perfect, because it's new, and interesting - I just don't want you to get hurt. Okay?"

Tony looks over at his friend and nods, then helps him to his feet. "Another go?"

"Yeah. When is your next 'not a date'?"

"Why?"

"Looking forward to a break."

"C'mon Colonel, let's go."

"I forgot how bossy you are when you are happy."

"Happy...?" Tony considers the idea for a moment, then nods. "Yeah, Rhodey. Think I might be in the neighborhood of happy. Now, more walk, less talk."

 

"Hey, it's me."

"May? Are you okay?" Tony sits up in bed and looks at the time on his phone.

"Crap. It's two in the morning, I didn't check, I'm sorry."

"I'll be right over."


	11. Chapter 11

"Hey."

"Sorry."

"Nope." Tony pauses at the doorway to the apartment and searches May's face, and knows the look in her eyes. "I just wanted to be sure you were - bad dream?"

May nods and takes him by the hand, leading him to the couch, and sits down next to him. "Peter's parents, my sister and her husband, car crash when he was two, he was in the car, but they found him sound asleep in the car seat afterwards. I used to dream about it, when I slept back then. Haven't had a dream like that in years. Peter is all the family I have left. I don't think I'm making sense right now. I'm not sure why I called you. No, I think I just wanted to hear your voice, be sure you were okay."

"Ice cream? Movie?"

"Tony."

"Tell me how I can help, May. I've never been good at this. Grand ridiculous gestures? I'm your guy. This. It's not little stuff, it's just different, knowing how to take care of people, I'm not sure. Sorry. Not making sense. Thought I was getting better at it, and then I wasn't. I want to be the guy you call at two in the morning, and you'll know I'll be there."

"You are. You're here." 

"But did you know I'd come over?"

"I thought you might, hoped you would."

"But you weren't sure."

"When you came over on Wednesday, you said I was safe."

"Yes."

"You are my safe place."

"That's not a little thing."

"No, it's quite a grand thing."

"Not ridiculous."

"Not ridiculous in the least."

 

"Morning." Tony startles awake to find Peter yawning as he pours cereal into a bowl, then goes to the fridge for milk.

"Morning," he whispers back, trying not to wake May who is still asleep, tucked against his chest. "Do you mind?"

"Nope. You are both grown ups. Just. Just don't hurt her."

"I won't."

Peter sits down at the table and gives him a long look, then nods. "Good."


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another short bit.

“I’m going to mess this up.”

“Boss?”

“May.”

“It’s possible, yes.”

“Thanks, F.R.I.D.A.Y.”

“Well, going by your history.”

“My history?”

“If you look at your track record, Boss -”

“Track record?”

“Besides Rhodey how many friends do you have? And by friends, I mean of the human variety.”

“If you’re going to be like that, I’ll just mute you.”

“You value me for my objectivity, Boss.”

“Right.” He runs his fingers through his hair, and glares down at the sandwich he no longer wants to eat. “Any bright ideas?”

“Don’t mess it up.”

“Muting you immediately.” 

“Just remember to breathe, Boss.”

“Right.”

 

“Are people capable of change, do you think?”

“Hi to you too. Change? I don’t know.”

“Evolving?”

“Evolving. Hmmm. I think people grow, I guess evolve is a good word. I think when people go through extreme events, that can make them grow faster than they are meant to, and they gradually revert a bit to what they were before. I didn’t really meet you until, what four days ago? I made certain assumptions, you confirmed some of those when you visited the first time, but you surprised me too.”

“Surprised you?”

“You have kind eyes. Hard to see that except in person.”

“Kind eyes mean something?”

“I think it means something when someone who has been through the extreme events that you have and come through it all with kind eyes. I think you still look at the world with hope, and I find that remarkable...”

He finds himself at a loss for words, so he lets her keep talking, letting her voice float through him until she stops. He clears his throat and mumbles, “I’d like to take you to dinner.”

“Pick me up tomorrow at eight.”


	13. Chapter 13

“Where is he taking you?”

“He didn’t say.” May fusses with the fifth dress she’s tried on in the last three hours. “This looks like I’m trying too hard.”

“You look great.”

“You’re just saying that.”

“I’m saying it because it’s true, and also because his car just pulled up. I’m sure he’s just as nervous as you are.”

“I’m not nervous...”

“Okay, whatever you say.”

“I’m terrified.”

Peter grins at her, then helps her into her coat and kisses her cheek. “I’m sure he’s terrified as well. Don’t stay out too late.”

“Behave.”

“You too.” 

 

“This is crazy.”

“Boss.”

“What am I doing, F.R.I.D.AY.?”

“She is approaching the car, Boss. Just remember to -”

“Breathe. Right. I’m muting you now.”

“Night, B-”

Tony gets out of the car and opens the door for her. “Chivalry is -”

“- on its last legs, I’m one of its last errant knights.” He bows to her, then looks up at her under his ridiculously long eyelashes and she has no choice but to laugh. “M’lady.”

“Idiot.”

“I’ve been called worse.” He walks over to his side of the car and slides into his seat, buckles himself in and starts the car. “Hold on.”

She closes her eyes as he flies through traffic for a few minutes, then comes to a stop in front of a tiny, but well-lit restaurant. “You don’t have to worry about anyone staring, the owner knows me, and we have the place to ourselves for a couple of hours.”

“You -”

“Back after the attack, I helped them rebuild the restaurant, and they know how hard it is for me to have a bit of privacy when I go out. It’s been a while.” He gets out of the car, then opens her door and helps her out. “Brace yourself,” he whispers as a tiny woman comes flying out of the door.

“Antonio! It’s been too long -” She flings her arms around him, then pulls back and grabs his face in her hands. “You have lost weight. You are not eating enough, that is not good, ‘Tonio, but the light is back in your eyes, and who is this?”

“Mama Lila, this is May, May, Mama Lila.”

“Ah, yes.” She looks May over and nods, then links arms with them and leads them into the restaurant. “I made your favorite lasagna, and I got out one of your bottles of wine, it’s breathing right now, should be perfect - do not fill up on my garlic bread, this man is a menace.”

“Yes, I know.” May smiles down at her as Tony pulls out her chair for her, watches as she settles into the chair, then seats himself. Lila nods her approval then ruffles Tony’s hair before she disappears into the kitchen, and May realizes that Tony has brought her to meet someone he considers family. 

“I think I was four the first time my mother brought me here. She was happy here. Not so happy at home. She wanted a big family. My father didn’t. Made it quite clear that he had little use for me, the noise, the mess. Here, I was allowed to be a kid.”

“Antonio. No way to treat this lady, wine, garlic bread, lasagna is resting, you need music. A little Sinatra, yes?”

Tony rolls his eyes as Lila places the bottle of wine and basket of bread on the table, then addresses May. “Don’t let him get stuck in his head, he’s a good boy, a smart boy, but remembers too much. Needs to live in the present more. You will help him with that, yes?”

May winks at Tony, then looks up at Lila and sees the love in her eyes. “Yes, Lila, I will.”

“Good, very good. Hmm… and you will let him take care of you a bit?”

May draws in a sharp breath, then glances over at Tony, who reaches out a hand to her; she lays her hand in his and watches the candlelight dance in his dark eyes as the music begins, and she nods as he helps her to her feet, then pulls her close as he sings softly to her:

“Fly me to the moon  
Let me play among the stars  
Let me see what spring is like  
On a, Jupiter and Mars  
In other words, hold my hand  
In other words, baby, kiss me…”*

She closes her eyes and relaxes against him as he hums into her hair and moves slowly to the music. His voice mingles with the scents from the kitchen and the faint light of the candle and she can’t remember the last time she felt so at peace. As the song fades, he whispers at her ear, “okay so far?”

“Perfect.” He draws back to look into her eyes, then starts to move back to the table, but she places her hands on his face and he freezes. “Can I kiss you, please?” He nods at her, and she can see the need and fear battle in his eyes. She kisses him lightly, and feels him relax into her, then his hands are in her hair and she smiles against his lips and manages to mumble, “You’re lovely, Tony Stark.”

He catches his breath, then grins at her. “Not so bad yourself, May Parker. Lasagna’s ready, she’ll kill me if it gets cold -”

“Do you bring all your lady friends here?” She regrets the words as soon as she says them when she sees his eyes change and he looks away.

“No.” He shakes his head, then he leads her back to the table. “You are the first.”

“I’m sorry - that was -”

“Completely understandable. I know my reputation -”

She stops him with another kiss, then draws back, and looks into his eyes, “I’m sorry.”

He gazes at her for a moment then smiles at her. “Thank you. Hungry?”

She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath in, and realizes she hasn’t eaten all day. She settles into her chair, and picks up her fork, then hears him laugh; the warmth of it matches the candlelight and she smiles at him as she takes a bite. She sighs happily and watches his face change, from wary to hopeful, and then to contentment as he begins to eat, and she wonders when it was that she fell in love with him. Perhaps later she will over analyze everything and tell herself all the reasons why they won’t work, but for now, she smiles at him, then returns her focus on the meal and the feeling that at the moment, the world, her world, anyway, is perfect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * Fly Me to the Moon written by Bart Howard


	14. Chapter 14

"You will have dessert, yes?" It is not a question, May understands, as Lila clears their plates, and gives her a wink before she turns back towards the kitchen. She knows she's been caught out by the older woman and just nods in agreement, then glances over at Tony and is struck by how intently he's studying her. She can't honestly remember the last time someone looked at her in the way he is at the moment, as if memorizing her.

"Tony?"

"I'm staring, sorry."

"No, it's -" 

"This is going to sound, I don't know, okay, I'm just going to say it. Tonight, here with you, is one of the few times in my life that I want to remember. I don't know what's going to happen next -"

"Panna cotta for two, is what's going to happen next, whatever follows is up to the two of you," Lila places a single dish between them, hands them each a spoon, then nods sharply and leaves the room.

May watches as Tony's face does something funny for the briefest of moments, then he recovers as he picks up the spoon, and dips it into the custard, then offers it to May. She moves closer and gently touches his hand as he places the spoon in her mouth. Her eyes close and she sighs as she's never tasted anything like it before, creamy and sweet, but not too sweet, with the lightest flavoring of something she can't define, and she decides not to think anymore. She opens her eyes, and picks up her own spoon, and feeds him in turn. His face loses the last bit of tension and she understands she is giving him back a piece of himself that he thought he had lost. She places the spoon carefully back onto the plate, and watches as he lets the spoon he's holding slip from his fingers, then takes her hand, and helps her to her feet.

"Will you -?"

"Yes." 

"I know -"

"Sshhh." She places a finger on his lips, and shivers as he kisses it, then smiles against it.

"Got yourselves sorted, then?" May turns to look at Lila, who is leaning against the doorway of the kitchen. "Take care of each other, hmm? He's a bit of a handful, but you already know that. There might be days when it's hard, but you've both had hard days and difficult years, no, he didn't tell me about you, lovely girl. I can see it in your eyes, how tightly you hold yourself together, you've built walls for years, to keep yourself safe. And you, Antonio, don't be afraid to let her know you. I know you aren't sure about anything right now, things are a mess, so hold onto her, let her and that bright boy of hers love you, because you deserve it. You do, sweet boy." 

Tony lets go of May's hand and walks over to Lila, takes her hands in his, looks into her eyes for a long moment, then nods and kisses her forehead, then walks back over to May, twines their fingers together, and without another word, leads her out of the restaurant and back into the chaos of the city. 

"Come home with me," May whispers into the night. "Please."

"Are you sure?" He mumbles back, then looks up at the stars, as if searching for an answer. 

"I've never been more sure of anything. I know you're scared that I'll be like everyone else who you've loved and they've left you. I'm not like everyone else. I'm sure I'll make mistakes, and so will you, but we're only human, even if there are days when you are more than that, you are still human under it all. I want to know you, all of you. I'm not afraid to love you, every single part of you. If you don't want that, tell me now -"

Tony turns and meets the tears that are streaming down her face with tears of his own, then leans down and kisses her forehead, then her left cheek, her right cheek and finally presses his lips to hers, then he sighs as her fingers thread through his hair, shivering as she finds the scars, both old and recent, and soon finds himself mumbling against her lips. She pulls away, and brushes the tears from his face, as he clears his throat. "Please, I do, want - I want everything, May. Everything for you and with you."

She nods and kisses his nose, and they both can't help but giggle. He opens the car door for her, makes sure she's settled, then closes the door and walks around to his side of the car, and looks up to see Lila smiling at him from the door before she turns off the lights. He returns her smile and slides into the car, then looks over at May and whispers, "home?"

"Home."


	15. Chapter 15

They return to May’s apartment to find a note from Peter on the table:

At Ned’s - new Lego set. Be home late.

May rolls her eyes, and slips out of her shoes, then turns to find Tony gazing at her, he’s studying her again, but she is no longer nervous, or afraid of what it means. She picks up her shoes in one hand, then grabs his hand with the other and leads him into her room. He closes the door, and as she turns her back to him, slowly unzips her dress.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Tonight was -”

“- lovely.” 

“It was. It is.” 

She slips out of her dress and pulls a hanger out of her closet, and hangs the dress up, then closes the closet door. She can hear his breathing change, and she wants to reassure him, tell him she will wait as long as he needs her to, when she feels his hand on her shoulder, and she turns to face him.

“It’s okay.”

“May.”

“It’s okay if you’re nervous. I’m nervous too. It’s been a long time, I haven’t felt this way since Ben -” Her words tail off as he removes his jacket and hangs it on the hook on the back of the door, then takes a deep breath and pulls the t-shirt over his head, and holds it tightly in his hand as his eyes close, he lowers his head, perhaps afraid to see the expression on her face.

She moves closer to him, and carefully takes the shirt from his hand and drapes it over the chair in front of her dressing table, then places her hand on his face and whispers, “you’re beautiful.”

He freezes and shakes his head, unable to meet her eyes. “May. You’ve never lied to me before.”

“I’m not lying.”

“There is nothing remotely attractive -”

She kisses his next words away, then lays a steady hand over his chest, where the arc reactor had once been, and feels him shiver as he covers her hand with his own. “I think you are beautiful. Your scars are a part of you, just a part of you, but you are so much more than what happened to you, what you’ve suffered. You are kind, and generous, and the most brilliant man I’ve ever met and you are stunning. Tonight, I realized that at some point over the last week, I had fallen in love with you. It wasn’t something I planned. But on the nights when you weren’t here, I found it difficult to sleep, because I missed you, and not just because -”

He finally lifts his head and looks down into her dark eyes for a moment, then nods at her. “Me too. It was too easy, I was afraid that I would find a way to ruin this, us - our friendship is the most real thing I have in my life right now, maybe it’s the most real thing I’ve ever had. When things are too easy, I get suspicious that I’m just missing something, not seeing something obvious. But tonight, when we danced -” She smiles up at him, then guides him to the edge of the bed and kneels in front of him, and removes his shoes and socks, then walks around to the other side of the bed, and slips under the covers, allowing him time to finish undressing. Soon she feels him settle in the bed, then slowly shift until he curls around her and she feels his breath at her ear, “when we danced tonight, and I felt you relax against me, I finally felt like I knew how to breathe again. I don’t know the exact moment when I fell in love with you, but every time I had to leave you, it became more difficult for me to leave. You understand me, May, and I think you know how rare it is to find someone who understands -”

She rolls in his arms and presses her face against his chest, and sighs as she feels his arms wrap around her, and he whispers, “I do love you, May Parker, so very much.”

 

Tony is in the kitchen making breakfast when Peter drops into a chair at the table. “Out patrolling last night?” Tony asks casually as he places a plate of pancakes and sausage in front of him.

“I did work on a new Lego set with Ned,” Peter mumbles before he cuts into the pancakes, and sighs happily as he takes a bite.

Tony nods then walks into the kitchen to retrieve his coffee, then sits down across from Peter, and spots a new bruise beginning to form on the teenager’s cheek. “I know you are more than capable of taking care of yourself, you proved that in Germany, but you’re not indestructible. I know that it feels like you are at times, until the next morning, when everything hurts.”

Peter looks up at him and sees the fading bruises around Tony’s eyes, visible reminders of his recent fight with Rogers and Barnes, and nods. “I don’t want her to worry.”

“She worried about you before she even knew what was going on, it’s what she does, and now she -” Tony isn’t sure how to finish the sentence and drops his gaze into his half-finished coffee.

“How is this going to work?”

Tony freezes, then runs his fingers through his hair before he looks over at Peter. “We haven’t worked out the logistics yet. I know this has to be at least odd for you -”

Peter shakes his head and lowers his voice. “She was on her fifth dress before you showed up to pick her up last night, if she’d had time, she would have changed again. She smiles all the time now. She puts on the music she used to when Uncle Ben was alive, the really good old songs. She’s singing again, she stopped singing a long time ago. She’s happy. That’s all I care about, but -”

“Don’t worry, I will do my best not to -”

“No. That’s not what I was going to say.” Peter grins at him, then shoves another bite of pancake into his mouth.

Tony rolls his eyes and waits. 

“I’m glad it’s you. It’s good to see you happier, too. This is a good thing, and yeah, having Iron Man as my backup isn’t bad either.”

“Watch it, kid.” Tony narrows his eyes at him, but can’t help from grinning at him, then his face changes as he understands how his life will change, how it has been changing ever since he met Peter and his unusually attractive aunt.

“I’m kidding -”

“No. Your new suit, the suit I built for you, it has a tracker on it, that can’t be hacked by smart-ass kids. You’ve had backup ever since Germany, you just didn’t know it.”

“Mr. Stark -”

“I thought you were going to call me Tony.”

“Sorry. This - you are going to take some time to get used to.”

“The feeling is mutual, kiddo.” Tony reaches over and ruffles Peter’s hair, then grumbles, “eat your breakfast before it gets cold.” He looks up to see May smiling at him, and he feels his face heat up.

“Morning.”

“Morning, there’s coffee and breakfast in the kitchen -” he manages to mumble before she walks over to him and kisses him gently, then she turns to look at her nephew who is busy stuffing pancake into his mouth. 

“Legos, hmmm?” Peter looks over at Tony for the promised backup, but he knows better than to get in mama bear’s way, so he gets up from the table and begins to fix May’s coffee for her as he hears her fuss about the new bruises and scrapes, and he is reminded again how very lucky he is to be there. He’s lost in thought, his hand resting over his chest when May walks into the kitchen and wraps her arms around him.

“You’re not the only lucky one,” she whispers into his hair as he leans against her.

“Reading my mind already,” he says quietly.

“Soon I’ll be finishing your sentences.”

Tony lifts his head and looks into her eyes then kisses her softly and mumbles against her lips, “looking forward to it.”


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For those who might wonder what May does for a living, I've decided to make her a writer... who had been going through a rough patch of writer's block, but she suddenly is inspired to write... hmmm, wonder why?

"May?" Tony looks at his watch and sighs.

"Hmmm?"

Peter looks over May's shoulder as she types away on her laptop. "She's writing."

"Writing?"

"She wrote a few textbooks, art history, back when Ben was still alive, she makes enough from the royalties and the occasional articles for art magazines, and free-lance stuff, but this isn't -"

"Peter -"

"She's been threatening to write her version of the 'Great American Novel' ever since I understood what that meant, and I think her writer's block is finally over."

"Peter Benjamin Parker!"

"I think if we want to go see the game, we should get going. When she gets like this -"

Tony nods and walks over to May and kisses the top of her head. "I, of all people, know when to leave genius to do what it needs to do -"

"I'm not a genius," May mutters under her breath, then finally turns and looks up into Tony's smiling face. "I'm sorry, Peter's right, you two should go, there's no point for you to miss the game, I would be miserable, and it would make you miserable -"

Tony shakes his head and takes her face in his hands and kisses her forehead. "You could never make me miserable, May Parker."

"Awwww..." Peter whispers.

Tony growls out, "Parker - downstairs, we still have to pick up Ned. Go. Now."

"Going, I'm going..." Peter leaves the apartment after blowing May a kiss. "Larb you."

"Yeah, larb you, too." May catches the kiss and places it on her cheek, then rolls her eyes at Tony. "It's not the 'Great American Novel.' I just - you - some writers write best when they are miserable, I find I write best when I'm happy."

"Are you happy, May?" Tony asks shyly.

"You have to ask me?"

"No. But sometimes, when I'm happy, I forget to check in with the person who is mostly responsible for my happiness, and soon -"

"Tony."

"I have to get going. Happy writing, Sweet-pea." May giggles as he kisses her nose again, then she turns back to the laptop, and adjusts her glasses. "And those glasses are -" 

"Go!"

"Stunning. You are stunning. I larb you."

May's breath catches and she leaps up from her chair, and runs over to the door before he can leave. "I larb you more."

"Not possible." Tony wraps his arms around her and kisses her sweetly. "We'll be home in a few hours. Write brilliantly."

"I do -"

"I know."

"We'll bring home dinner on the way home. Any requests?"

"Surprise me."

"Okay. Gotta go."

"Go. I know, you won't hear the end of it if you miss the first pitch." May watches him until he disappears around the corner and feels her breath catch again, already wondering when the day would come. "Nope, happy, you're happy. Write. Time to write, May Parker."

 

"Shh..." Tony places the bag of pork carnitas from May's favorite taco truck on the table, and directs the two boys to Peter's room. He walks silently into the kitchen and pulls out a couple of beers. Then hears May mumble in her sleep at the table. 

"Tony... Pete-"

Hell. Tony holds his breath, and knows he has to wait, he's hoping she wakes up gently, but knows the odds are low. He wonders when or if it will ever stop. Even though he hasn't put on the suit, or even gone into his workshop in almost two months, he knows that there is always the risk that one day he or Peter, or both of them - no. He can't go there right now. He quietly slides open the drawer where the bottle opener is kept, and pulls out the opener, opens the beer and drinks down half of it. 

"Tony?" May turns her head and blinks at him, then closes her eyes again and draws in a deep breath. "Pork carnitas?" She sits up and grabs the bag. "You are a genius."

"No, Pete is. I had inside information."

"Still. I'm starving. Did you already eat? What is it?"

Tony shakes his head and puts his beer down, then opens the other bottle for her, and carries both bottles over to the table. "You were talking in your sleep." He sits down at the table and watches as her face changes. "May. I know there's nothing I can say that will convince you -"

"Not tonight, please?" May asks quietly. "These are messy, can you get out a couple of plates? The boys already eat?"

"Several times." He grins at her, then gets up from the table and returns with a couple of plates. "How did the writing go?"

May shrugs, "seems I'm writing poetry at the moment."

"About?"

"A certain ridiculous, but lovely man who makes me insanely happy."

"Hmmm..." He watches as she takes a bite and her eyes close. "Insanely happy, hmm?"

"Uhmhmmm." She puts the carnitas on the plate, and picks up her beer, then clears her throat. "I'm not going anywhere, I mean - no matter what - hell."

"I'll be here, as long as you want me, May. I can't make you promises -"

"I don't want promises. Just -"

"I'll do my best to keep both of us safe."

"That's all I can ask." She looks in the bag and rolls her eyes. "Looks like you bought -"

"A dozen."

"A dozen? Well, I can't eat all these on my own."

"You won't have to." Tony grins and reaches into the bag and pulls out a couple of the wraps and puts them on his plate. "I will promise you this, May Parker, if I have any say in the matter, I will be here. For you. And Peter. Always."

May blinks at him then gets up from the table and stands in front of him. He looks up at her and she leans down and kisses his nose. "I larb you, Tony Stark."

"And I larb you, Sweet-pea, now eat before they get cold, and then I want to take you to bed, and you can read me some of your poetry."

"It's not ready yet -"

"May."

"It's a rough draft. It's been years since I've let anyone read -"

Tony shakes his head and reaches over to take her hand. "I'll be ready to listen when or if you are ready to read it to me." 

"I -"

"Yeah, I know, me too. Me too, May."


	17. Chapter 17

"We're going to Ned's to watch movies." 

"Okay, just be careful."

"I'm just -"

"Yeah, going to watch movies, I heard you. In case something comes up..."

"Night, Tony."

"Night, Pete."

 

Tony climbs into bed next to May and she curls around him, pulling him tightly against her, and he wonders at how she just knows when he needs her to hold onto him, as if tethering him to the real world. There are nights when he feels lost, and all the doubts seem to crowd in on him; he doesn't have the words to explain it, and she doesn't ask for them, she simply wraps her slender arms around him and drapes a leg over his, and pressing a kiss to each of the scars that are scattered over his shoulders and back, easing him into sleep. He hopes he offers her the same peace on the nights when the world is too much for her. 

"You do."

He rolls in her arms and is struck by the gentleness in her eyes. "How? I don't -"

"I don't have to explain things to you. I don't know if you understand what it means to me to be known like that, when I can barely breathe -"

"- you breathe for me."

She nods and kisses him in a way that feels new and old and everything he never thought he would have. She pulls away and smiles softly at him. "Yeah. That."

"There are things I want to tell you, but it feels like you already know, and I don't mean facts and stories, the usual small talk stuff. I mean the times when I'm so afraid that I can barely move, the moments when I'm so beyond happy that I feel like I'm going to implode, but you touch me, and I -"

Her hands push into his hair and he lets go of the breath he was holding, as she kisses his forehead, then draws back and smiles at him. He wraps himself carefully around her, and pulls her closer then buries his face in her hair and closes his eyes. "I love you."

"I love you, my sweet man."

"Is it really that simple?"

"Yes, I think sometimes, it is just that simple."

 

"So, when do I get to meet her?" Rhodey asks as Tony pours him some coffee, and carries it to the table.

Tony shrugs, as he sits down and looks at his hands, "I don't know."

"You don't know? You're here for my rehab, but then you vanish, and F.R.I.D.A.Y. won't say a word. Just that you are 'unavailable'. You haven't put a foot in your workshop in two months, or reworked your suit, since Siberia."

"I'm on a sabbatical."

"A sabbatical? You mean -"

"A vacation."

"You've never -"

"Exactly. I'd love for you to meet her, you'd like her, she'd like you, probably, but every time my 'real life' meets 'this,'" Tony waves his hands at the Avengers compound, currently mostly empty of Avengers, "real life loses."

"And your real life is -"

"With May and Peter."

"In Queens?"

Tony nods. "I don't know how to explain it, but it's like when I came back from Afghanistan, and you thought I had lost my mind?"

"Yeah. I -"

"Doesn't matter. After what happened with Rogers, I needed time, time to rethink what I'm doing; actually I just wanted to see someone who wasn't actively hating or blaming me for something. So I went to see Peter, and May patched me up, didn't ask a lot of questions, but she understood, maybe it was because there wasn't any baggage, she didn't really know me, except from what 'everyone' knows about me. I haven't slept this well in years, maybe ever. I took Pete and his friend to a baseball game. I make breakfast, I do dishes. I help the kid with his homework, not that he needs it that much."

"You don't miss it."

"Miss it? No, I don't miss it. I've spent the last few years trying to stop doing this. The reason I fought was so that I could stop fighting and have what I have now. I didn't know it was what I wanted. But it is. I'm not ready for her to meet 'this' yet."

"Well, I have to say, you do look better. Content, never really seen you content with things before."

"A while ago, I took her to see Lila."

Rhodey puts down his mug and stares at him. "You didn't even take Pepper to see Mama Lila."

"Guess I wasn't ready."

"So?"

"Got her blessing."

"Mama Lila likes her?"

"Mama Lila keeps calling, asking me when I'm going to bring Peter to meet her."

"So this is - you're serious."

"You're asking if -"

"Does she love you?"

"Yeah, Rhodey, she loves me. I love her."

"That's good, Tony."

"Yeah, it is."


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A bit of explicitude at the end of the chapter, note the rating change.

"Ah, you are Peter, then?" Lila looks him over for a moment, then nods her approval. "About time you brought him to me, Antonio. How old are you, Peter?"

"Fifteen, ma'am."

"What is this 'ma'am'? You call me Mama Lila, yes?"

"Yes, Mama Lila."

Lila beams at Tony then looks around him. "Your May?"

"At home, writing, we needed to get out of her hair and I thought you might teach Peter how to make pasta."

"You know how - why don't you?" She crosses his arms at him and he smiles at her.

"Lila, I haven't made pasta in years, and I just thought he should learn from the best?"

"Now you are just sweet-talking me, like you always do."

"If it works -"

"Yeah, yeah, Tonio. Sit. Peter, come, you like pasta?"

"Yes, Mama Lila."

"Tonio ever make you and May dinner?"

Peter looks over at Tony, and sees him shake his head. "Nope."

"No? Tonio..."

"Lila -"

"Alright, alright. I will show you, this time, next time you come see me, we'll make it together, yes?"

"Yes, Mama Lila."

"Good, now you know how long I've known Tonio?"

"No, how long?" Peter can't help but grin as he hears Tony snort, then cover his face with his hands.

"Hmm, he was four when his mama brought him here the first time, he thought he knew everything even then, but he did get my radio to work -"

Peter's jaw drops and Tony mutters, "just a couple of loose wires, no big deal."

"It's a big deal to have music again, after three weeks of no music. Now, Peter, you listen to my Tonio here, he's a smart man, and a good one. Enough talk, you come with me, and we'll make dinner for you and your family."

Tony watches Peter disappear into the kitchen, and closes his eyes as he listens to the same lecture that she had given him over thirty years earlier. 

"Now, Tonio, you eat noodles, yes?"

"Yes, Mama Lila."

"You like noodles, yes?" He had nodded emphatically, still trying to decide about the loud, friendly woman who seemed to like him for no reason.

"I'm going to show you how to make real pasta, not that boxed stuff you eat at home, those aren't noodles, once you eat real noodles you won't eat that other stuff again." And for years he hadn't. When his parents went away on holiday, he would stay with Lila, she would tell him stories, play the old music she loved and teach him how to cook. One of the best days of his life was when she tasted the lasagna he had made for her birthday, and she kissed both his cheeks and told him it was better than her own. It suddenly occurs to him that he had been Peter's age. He sits lost in his thoughts until he feels Lila ruffle his hair as she places a basket of garlic bread in front of him, then sits down and smiles at him.

"He's a bright boy, your Peter. I've got him cranking out the noodles like a pro, he loves hearing stories about you, and he thinks you hung the moon."

"Yeah, I love him too."

"They are good for you, May and Peter."

Tony nods as he bites into a piece of garlic bread and lets out a sigh.

"Love is no small thing, Tonio."

He looks up to meet the eyes he knows so well, and whispers, "I know, Lila."

"Good. You'll bring him back next week, and you will show him how to make your lasagna, one day when he gets too old to -" She covers her mouth and Tony groans.

"You know."

"You could never keep secrets from me, and you tried. This boy is an open book, and he's strong, too strong, though he works hard to hide it. He wants to save the world."

"I know. He thinks the world is worth saving."

"So do you, Tonio. In spite of everything, so do you."

"You always had my number, Lila."

Peter pokes his head out of the kitchen and smiles at them. "All finished, Mama Lila."

"Good. Now I'm going to teach you how to make garlic bread, so whenever you get into trouble with Tonio here, you'll have something to get him on your side." Lila gets to her feet and ruffles Tony's hair again, then shoos Peter back into the kitchen.

 

"You got to grow up with her?" Peter asks as he settles into the car holding the pasta and garlic bread he has helped to make.

"She's the reason I survived my childhood."

"I, uhm -"

"She told me that she knows. I know -"

"You trust her, and she kinda noticed things, that I couldn't explain -."

"She notices everything, whether you want her to or not. If you ever need help - and for some reason I'm not around, or you just need someone to talk to -"

Peter looks over at him and Tony shakes his head. "I'm not planning on going anywhere, it's just good to have someone who you can count on, you don't mind coming back next week, do you, she likes teaching, and I -"

"No, she's cool, and she's got the best stories."

Tony rolls his eyes and swears under his breath, as he pulls out into traffic. 

"Language."

 

"You helped make this?" May asks as Peter puts a plate in front of her. 

"I watched her make the pasta, but I cranked it through the pasta machine, and I made the garlic bread - and she tells the best Tony stories."

May watches Tony's face, and reaches out to take his hand. Again, the love in her eyes leaves him speechless and he is suddenly aware of the lengths he would go to in order to protect the life he has now. She searches his eyes and she breathes with him, and he wonders not for the first time how he had lived without her, without this -

"And we're going back to see Mama Lila next week, and Tony is going to show me how to make lasagna."

"Been keeping secret cooking skills from me?" May teases him as she releases his hand and takes a bite of the noodles in front of her. "Oh my god - this is amazing. That's it, I officially leave the meatballs and spaghetti nights in your capable hands, Peter."

 

May settles against him and threads their fingers together. "Thank you."

"For?"

"He's generally been a happy kid in spite of everything, but the last few months have been hard on him. When I found out about the whole secret identity thing, things made more sense, but since you've been around, he's been different, in a good way, like he feels it's okay to be a kid again. I've always felt guilty that he didn't have a real childhood, you're giving it back to him, but most of all, he knows someone has his back."

"I know what it's like, I used to feel like I had to do everything on my own, and I know how hard it is to be different -"

May presses a kiss to his chest and his breath catches. Her fingers trace the old shrapnel wounds and the more recent scars he's acquired over the years, and he shivers at her touch. They have waited to get to this point, there hasn't been any discussion really, just a mutual understanding, his ribs had taken their time to heal, and he's had the feeling that she was still somewhat concerned about his past history, no matter what she has actually said to him. At the moment, he isn't thinking of any of the reasons why they haven't made love yet, as she straddles him and lifts the camisole over her head, he isn't thinking of anything but the light in her eyes as she smiles down at him.

"May -"

She lays a trembling finger on his lips, and he knows this means as much to her as it does to him. "I love you in ways I don't know that I'll ever understand, and I know, I have thought of what this will mean, or what it might mean, and I know there are risks - and I'm talking too much, right now. You have been so patient - "

His hands reach into her hair and pull her into a long, breathtaking kiss, and as she melts against him he knows he has never wanted anyone the way he wants her, will always want her. He freezes as she moves against him, touching him as if he was something to be treasured, and he wonders if he has ever made love before as she runs her fingers over the silk boxers and he arches into her hand. He feels himself shiver again and she leans down to kiss him, reassuring him, letting him know it's okay to feel everything he's feeling and he closes his eyes to try the stop the tears that are threatening to fall. She whispers, "it's okay, if you're not ready," and the tears spill over. 

He opens his eyes and when she sees his answer there, she smiles against his lips as his hands come to rest on her hips. He feels her tremble slightly, then she kisses his nose and he can't help but laugh, he covers his mouth with his hand and his eyes roll back as she begins to brush her finger tips over him again and he can barely breathe as she kisses her way down his body. His hands move into her hair again as she slowly slides his boxers off and tosses them aside and her fingers wrap around his very interested length; he knows he isn't going to last long as he somehow manages to open his eyes again to find her gazing at him as she gently strokes him. He tries to speak and she shakes her head. "Tonight is about you, love. I want to know how you sound, what your face does when you completely let go. Let go, my heart, just let go." She strokes him two more times and he sobs as he comes hard in her hand, then he feels her wrap her arms around him as he shakes through the aftershocks. 

After a few minutes, he finds his voice and mumbles, "I larb you, Sweet-pea," then kisses her hair as he tumbles into sleep.

 

He wakes a few hours later to find her sleeping soundly against his shoulder, her fingers lightly draped over his wrist, as if making sure he won't disappear and he whispers into her hair, "I'm not going anywhere, Sweet-pea." He feels her shift against him and he wraps his arms around her, closes his eyes and is soon fast asleep again.


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> just a short bit for the night owls/early birds

May slowly blinks against the late morning light, and tries not to overthink how things might be different this morning as she gradually registers the feeling of Tony curled around her, and focuses on the gentle rhythm of his heartbeat that seems to surround her.

"Morning."

"Seems to be."

"Sunday morning?"

"I think so."

"Coffee?"

"Not yet." She sits up and turns to look down at him, and briefly wonders if he's any different than he was yesterday. He grins up at her and shakes his head, and she knows he's about the same, except maybe his smile is just a little brighter than it had been before, or maybe it's just her.

"Just checking to see if I'm still me?"

"Uhmhmm." She leans closer to kiss him and as he pulls her against him she squeals, then covers her mouth, and lets out a snort of joy.

"Hmmm, you seem to have a severe case of -"

She kisses him and realizes it feels like they've been doing this for years, when they've only been sharing a bed for weeks, and not every night, as there are nights when he needs some time to himself, or has to deal with his 'old life' as he calls it, or she needs to write, but he's there for her, in ways that she still has trouble believing, and yet - "happy. Definitely happy." She sits up and covers her mouth again, then mumbles, "maybe I shouldn't have said that out loud."

"What, that you are H-A-P-P-Y? I don't believe in jinxes."

"You don't?"

He nods his head, but mutters, "nope. But, I think the rule is that you have to stay in bed all day, especially if it's a Sunday. No, that won't work, because I, for one am starving, and I haven't taught Peter how to make pancakes yet. And we both need coffee. Oh, and by the way, I love you."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"That's good, because I love you too."

Tony rolls them so he can look down into her eyes, and is silent for a moment, then bites his lip and shakes his head. "I think we are too sweet for our own good."

"Think so?"

"Know so. But I don't care. For so much of my life there have been few things I am certain of; math, the necessity of coffee, good scotch and duct tape, and I am certain of you. You, May Parker are like gravity, and the periodic table -"

She gazes up at him and laughs, "why Mr. Stark, you do know how to sweep a girl off her feet."

"And chocolate chip cookies fresh out of the oven, when they are just cool enough to eat."

She blinks at him and sees the rest of her life reflected in his deep brown eyes, and there is nothing left to say, until they hear his stomach rumble and she can't help but take his face in her hands and kiss him until he can't breathe and has to pull away.

"Good morning, May Parker."

"And a good morning to you, Tony Stark."


	20. Chapter 20

"I have an idea, and it's up to both of you, completely your decision -" Tony begins as he clears the dishes from breakfast.

May hears something in his voice, it sounds like resignation and she already wants to talk him out of it, but knows he wouldn't do or say something without it being necessary, or important to him, to them. She nearly drops her mug when she realizes that they are indeed a them, have been for a while now, and it has little to do with what happened the night before.

"Yes."

Tony blinks at her and walks back to the table, then drops into his chair. "You don't know what I'm asking of you."

"Whatever it is, I trust you."

Peter looks at May, then at Tony and shrugs.

"I want to take you to meet Rhodey."

"War Machine?" Peter jumps up from the table, and Tony can't help but grin.

"Yeah, that was the name I gave him. Iron Patriot, a bit too much, I thought. Peter is already aware of some parts of the not so normal part of my life, and that part of my life eventually touches people that I care about -"

May gets up from her chair and walks over to him, then lays a hand on his shoulder. "I knew who you were, the day we met. I know who and what Peter is, it already touches us, if you prefer to keep us hidden here, I understand your reasons, but you have to know, as much as you want to believe otherwise, one day, you will put the armor back on."

"May -"

"It's inevitable, and as much as I'd like to keep both of you safely stowed away here, I know it's not possible. Both of you are too necessary, too important, and I know it's very much a part of you. Don't you think I want to know everything about you? I know you are afraid I might worry, I already worry, it's what I do, even when I know both of you are safely at home asleep."

Tony nods, and looks over at Peter. "Pete?"

"Yeah, sounds cool. Can I hang out with Vision?"

"I know he would like that very much."

"Vision?" 

"He's kind of an android," Peter whispers, "but much cooler - not that I've met any other androids -"

Tony glances up at May, and she shrugs, then ruffles his hair. "Android?"

"Kind of -"

"We're ready when you are."

 

"James Rhodes, this is May Parker, and her nephew Peter."

Rhodey offers May his hand but she smiles at him and whispers, "thank you," as she hugs him. She steps back and he nods, understanding at least part of what she is thanking him for. 

"I have paperwork, things to do. I still liaise, between what's left of Stark International and the military, and I deal with the Avengers mess, but if you want to chat later, I'll be around. Peter, Tony said you wanted to hang out with Vision."

"He won't mind will he?"

"No, he will enjoy getting to know you, just be aware, he's still very young, even though he's a big guy, and very bright, he's still learning, so -"

"Watch the language?" Peter grins at him.

"Exactly, I knew you were a smart -" Rhodey is about to call him kid, but stops as he remembers what he did in Germany, and kid doesn't seem to fit him no matter how old he is. "Come on, Pete."

 

Tony punches in the code to his workshop, then guides May into the space he hasn't been in since he first returned from Siberia, and he remembers that the armor he wore that day is still in pieces on the workstation that he designed but has never used. He freezes as she walks over to the table in silence.

She runs her fingers over the smashed arc reactor, the armor covered in dents, and when she realizes that some parts are shattered beyond recognition, she can't help but shudder. She picks up the cracked and mangled helmet, then looks over at him and he wonders why he had ever thought he could have anything close to a normal life. He is certain she won't be able to deal with the reality of what his life is when he dons the armor. She puts the helmet down slowly, takes two steps towards him, and shakes her head as he instinctively takes a step backward. "Don't be an idiot."

"May."

"When you returned from Siberia, you came to us of all people."

He whispers as he looks away from the softness in her eyes, "I didn't know who to trust, after -" He nods at the armor and shrugs. "Rhodey was hurt, paralyzed because I couldn't stop him from crashing and I couldn't convince Rogers to sign. Pepper had already left me, the people I thought had my back, had become my family, were splintered, because Rogers and I fell out. I was trying to keep us together, but the Accords just tore us apart, and Peter was one of the few people I still trusted. I didn't expect - I never thought there would ever be someone who sees me as you do, but you gave me time to heal, not just physically." He finally turns to meet her eyes and he can see the same love that was there when they woke up in Queens just hours earlier. "You've helped me to heal in places that I thought would always be broken. I had given up thinking I could find my place out in the world, but you and Peter -"

May slips her fingers into the belt loops on his jeans and pulls him close, then whispers fiercely against his lips, "we are your family, love, no matter what."

He trembles at her kiss, then closes his eyes as he rests his head on her shoulder, and murmurs, "promise?"

"I promise."


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vision and Peter, mostly

Peter and Rhodey walk into the common room to find Vision at the window, probably updating, or lost in his thoughts, as Rhodey has come to think of it, as over the last few months, he has come to see Vision as more human than man-made creation.

"Vision."

"Yes?" He turns and spots Peter standing there, and he registers immediately who he is. "Ah. Peter Parker. No costume today?"

Peter laughs. "No, I left it at home. I was wondering if I could, I don't know, talk with you for a while?"

Vision searches the boy's face and nods, then walks over to the couch and invites Peter to sit across from him. Rhodey shakes his head, again amazed, but no longer that surprised at what his life has become, and slowly moves into the kitchen for more coffee.

"Is there something specific you wished to speak of, Peter? From the Greek, petros, meaning stone, and from the Latin -" 

"Petra, meaning rock. I'm named for rocks and stones. I think my Aunt May would definitely agree some days." Peter grins at Vision, and clears his throat. "I think she finds me a bit immovable at times."

"You performed admirably in Germany."

Peter blushes and looks away. "I should have done more."

"What could you have done? They had both determined that they were in the right, but unfortunately on opposing sides. Mr. Stark and Captain Rogers are both highly intelligent men, good men, but also stubborn, and think a great deal of themselves, which is important in good leaders. It would be foolish to follow men who are unsure of their worth."

"I should have been there to stop-"

"What followed in Siberia?"

Peter nods, and looks down at his hands, surprised to find them shaking.

"Again. It was unfortunate. There are times when as much as we wish to, we cannot prevent certain inevitable outcomes of conflicts. There was very little that anyone could do. I had seen it coming and tried to warn them." Vision taps the Mind Stone and shrugs. "I also struggle at times, what good is knowing what will happen if no one will listen? Even if they had known what would happen beforehand, I do not think they would have been able to stop themselves. Humans are quite predictable, I've found. What is more surprising is when they are able to come to agreement, to compromise. I have not seen many examples of this."

"How old are you Vision?"

Vision offers Peter a smile and nods. "That is not easily answered, Peter. If you are referring to the age of my physical form, I am a little over four months old now, but the stone in my head is timeless, as we do not know the exact time of the creation of the universe, and I am also the ages of Dr. Banner, and Mr. Stark, as well as Jarvis. I think age is an odd construct. But if I may ask, how old are you?"

Peter laughs. "I am fifteen."

"Fifteen human years, and already you have much to teach them."

"Sometimes they listen, but like you said, people are predictable. Most people think because I am younger means what I think doesn't matter. I am respected as much as I am because I have these ridiculous abilities I wasn't born with. I had to learn how to use them, control them, on my own, really, except for what Mr. St - Tony gave me. They don't think that I have much to offer other than my mad skills."

Vision gazes at Peter's face and shakes his head. "I do comprehend how easy it is to feel that way, but I do know Mr. Stark holds you in very high regard. He updates my databases from time to time, and I do know that he was and is very proud of you, and not simply for your assistance in Germany. He depends on you at times as you depend upon him. He is learning from you in ways I do not think you are quite aware of."

Peter snorts. "What could I possibly have to teach him? He knows -"

"He knows quite a lot yes, but you are teaching him how to be a better human being."

"Me? But how -?"

"Simply by accepting him and loving him as he is."

Peter's eyebrows shoot up. "But why wouldn't I?"

"Precisely, Peter." Vision suddenly stops and appears to be in sleep mode.

"Huh?"

Rhodey walks back over to Peter and touches his shoulder. "He's having a bit of a rest. Remember, he's still technically -"

"A four month old?"

"Right."

"Man." Peter ruffles his hair and looks up at Rhodey. "You got any food in this place? It's been hours since breakfast."

Rhodey laughs and nods, "of course we do, this place is always well stocked, you never know when we might get invaded. I think Tony hopes Bruce and Thor might literally drop by some day, and you do not want to be around Thor when he's hungry and there isn't enough food around."

"Watchya got?"

"I make a mean reuben."

"Seriously? That sounds awesome."

"Come on, kiddo - damn, sorry."

"As a friend likes to remind me all the time, I am a kid still, so I don't really mind all that much."

"Still -"

"No, it's okay, Rhodey." Peter looks over at him and sighs. "You heard."

"Yeah. But just so you know, Vision is right. I've never seen Tony this happy, and I've known him since he was three."

"You know Mama Lila, then?"

"Yep."

"She's pretty cool."

"Yeah, she is. Come on I'll show you my secret, but you can't tell anyone, especially Tony."

"You got it."


	22. Chapter 22

Rhodey sits back in his chair and listens as Tony finishes telling a story he's heard a hundred times, and he knows that his friend is finally, truly happy. It's not just that he's laughing at his own punchline, but there's a light in his eyes that hasn't been there since - he honestly can't remember when. He shakes his head and gets up from the table, taking his plate with him to the kitchen, then starts as he feels a hand on his shoulder. He turns and looks down at May.

"Let me help clean up?"

"Sure."

Tony looks over at them and clears his throat. "Hey Pete, why don't I show you around the place?"

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, come on. I'll show the game room."

"You guys have a game room?"

"Of course we do. You should have seen Thor and Banner playing ping pong. Banner is generally a mellow dude on his good days, but man, does he hate to lose."

"Man... I wish I could have seen that -"

May rolls her eyes as she watches them leave the room, and she carries over a stack of plates over to the sink. 

Rhodey glances at her and she smiles at him. "Caught me. I just wanted to let you know -"

"I can tell. It's been a long time since I've heard him laugh like that, and I know he's never been this happy before. I didn't think- even before Afghanistan, he wasn't really happy. And after he came home, he was a man on a mission. I let him down, because I didn't understand, he needed my help, and I basically abandoned him. He's been my best friend since we were kids, and I thought he'd lost his mind, and I told him so. Somehow, he forgave me. He's spent the last few years trying to fix everything. I think he truly believed if he worked hard enough, sacrificed enough, he could save the world. To be honest, I didn't think he'd survive Pepper leaving. But he did. And then the thing with the Accords and Steve. He still feels guilty for what happened to me. None of us should have been there - but he knew, deep down, even before that mess with Ultron, after New York, he knew no matter what he did, what we did, with everything we can do, it wouldn't be enough. Sorry. I'm rambling. It's just - he's the best person I know, and I wasn't sure how much more he could take. I'm glad he has you and Peter."

"So, you don't mind?"

"Mind? Hell no. Keeps him out of my hair, and out of trouble, at least as much as you can keep a Stark out of trouble." He grins at her as she laughs and begins to load the dishwasher.

"I love him, and I won't hurt him."

"That's good enough for me."

 

Tony looks back at Peter fast asleep in the backseat of the car, then feels May's hand rest lightly on his thigh and his heart seems to flip. He hadn't understood what that feeling was like, not since - at the red light, he looks over at her, the sun is just setting and the light is making her glow, the auburn highlights in her hair seem to be on fire and it's all he can do not to park the car and -

"The light's green, Tony."

"Right." He nods and still can't stop looking at her, until the car behind them lays on the horn and he presses the gas and they fly down the street. "You're beautiful."

"You just noticed that?" She smirks at him and squeezes his leg.

"No. It's just -"

"Watch the road, Mister."

"Yes, Ma'am."

He returns his focus to the road and she moves closer to rest her head against his shoulder. They fall into a comfortable silence that lasts until they pull up in front of the building, then they help Peter out of the car, up the flights of stairs and tuck him into bed. As Tony switches off the light, Peter yawns then mumbles, "best day ever. Love you."

Tony's brain short circuits for half a second, but he recovers and whispers, "yeah, Pete, love you, too. G'night."

"Night."

He closes the door then leans against it and closes his eyes.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine - better than. Just didn't know," Tony mutters, as she takes his hand and leads him to their room.

"Didn't know -?"

"I can't remember that I ever told my dad that I loved him."

"I'm sure -"

Tony shakes his head as he drops onto the side of the bed and unties his sneakers, and lines them up carefully under the bed then looks up at her and whispers, "I really do, you know, love him. I won't let him get hurt, I promise."

"Shh." She moves to stand in front of him and she takes his hands in hers. "As strong and as good as you are, Tony, you can't promise me that. Just keep loving him."

Tony nods and closes his eyes as she kisses his forehead, then leans forward until their foreheads touch and he smiles up into her eyes. "I will, May, I promise."

"I know, love, I know."


	23. Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skipping ahead a few months...

“Tony.” May’s hand squeezes his tighter as Peter’s easy chatter ends suddenly and he freezes when he notices Steve Rogers walking hesitantly towards them.

He looks rough, as if the last few months might have been harder on him than on himself. It is within his rights to pretend he didn’t see or hear him, but May and Peter are with him, and he wants to believe he is a better man now than he was back then. They are on their way to Lila’s for dinner, there is no way anyone could have set this meeting up, it has to be a coincidence, he tells himself, even though he doesn’t believe anything is ever truly random.

“Rogers.”

“Damn, this is -”

“Language.” Tony nods at Peter and Steve bites his lip.

“Sorry, do you have a minute?”

Tony kisses May’s cheek and tells Peter, “go on over to Lila’s, why don’t you start getting the pasta ready, hmm?”

“Tony.” He can tell Peter wants to be there to back him up and he loves him for it, but Steve isn’t aware of Peter’s alter ego, and he needs to deal with Rogers on his own.

“I’ll be fine, Pete.” He nods at May and she takes Peter’s arm and leads him away, murmuring in his ear and he watches them until they are safely inside the restaurant.

“So -” Rogers begins and looks as uncomfortable as Tony’s ever seen him. He shrugs and decides to have mercy on him.

“My girlfriend and her nephew.”

“Girlfriend?"

“You’ve been out of the loop for a while, Cap.”

“Yeah, I guess so. I thought about going to the compound, but - I wasn’t sure we’d, if I’d be welcome.” Tony watches his face and waits for whatever it is he needs to say, and Steve takes a deep breath, then lets it go slowly. “I am sorry, Tony. For everything. If it means anything to you, Bucky is -”

“I don’t want to know, if it’s all the same to you. I’m trying to believe this is a coincidence bumping into you, and I’m willing to give you the benefit of the doubt.”

Steve searches his face for a long moment, and sees something in Tony’s eyes that allows him to relax slightly. “I don’t expect you to forgive me, and I’m not asking you to -”

Tony stops him before he can go on.“You and whoever else wants to are welcome to crash at the compound. It’s never been my home, it was meant to be your place really, not mine. I still haven’t decided if I’ll ever put on the armor again, to be honest.”

Steve blinks at him and sees the truth in his eyes. “You look good, Tony. I wish there had been -”

“Listen. Steve. I’ll be at the compound tomorrow. I help out with Rhodey’s rehab, and I’ve been tweaking his new legs, working on Vision, sweeping floors, you know, real heroic stuff.” He can’t help but offer his former friend a lopsided grin when Steve tries to stifle a snort, but fails. “Tonight, though, I’m proposing to May, and I’m making dinner for her and Peter-”

“Congratulations, Tony. Really. I wish I had your optimism. The world -”

“Steve. I know, the world is a royally fucked up mess, but then it always has been. We didn’t make it that way. I got an annoyed official-looking letter when I didn’t help to stop you from breaking them out, or track you guys, but nothing else has happened since. Of course, I haven’t really looked at my mail lately, Rhodey is sort of in charge at this point. I know he’d be happy to see everyone -”

“Will he really? He is your best friend -”

“Since the accident, he’s had time to think. I’ll let him know to expect you -”

“Tony.”

“Steve. We’ll talk tomorrow.”

“Good luck tonight, though I’m sure you won’t need it, and thank you.”

“Night, Steve.”

 

Hey - just ran into Steve near Lila’s place. - Tony

Shit. Are you okay? - R

I told him he and whoever else needs to crash at the compound are welcome, just put them in the rooms that are off the grid if you know what I mean. - Tony

Got it. Any news yet? - R

I’ll let you know when I know. - Tony

Good luck - R

Thanks. - Tony

 

“Tony?” Peter is waiting for him, coiled and ready for a fight, and Tony can feel him relax as he walks through the door unharmed. “He didn’t -”

“No, I’m fine.” He ruffles Peter’s hair and looks up to see May looking him over. “Really, kiddo. Nothing happened.” He holds out his arms to him and Peter holds onto him tightly, and he is reminded again that no matter how strong and capable he is, he’s still a kid. “Go on, I’ll be in there soon.”

“Yeah, okay.” Peter lets go of him and heads back into the kitchen.

May moves closer to him and places her hand on his chest then leans against him. He buries his nose in her hair and lets the tension fall from his shoulders as he wraps his arms around her. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I am. Seeing him just reminds me how lucky I am. And I am, so very lucky, May.” He sighs and kisses her hair then clears his throat and mumbles, “I wasn’t planning on doing this now, I was going to seduce you with my lasagna and tiramisu -”

“Tony?” May whispers as she watches him carefully get down on one knee, and he takes her hand in his and brings it to his lips. “What -”

“May Parker. There was a point in my life, that I thought was the worst time of my life, when I didn’t know why I was still alive. I thought I was meant to do something bigger, save the world - whatever. I was wrong. I survived so I could meet you -”

For the first time since she’s known him, he’s made her utterly speechless and she drops to her knees in front of him.

“I survived so I could meet you, and fall in love with you. Your goodness, your hope, your joy - I didn’t think - I never thought I deserved to be happy - not the true love kind of happy. I didn’t believe that kind of thing happens, until it happened to me.” He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a blue velvet box. “I know it hasn’t been that long, and I know there are numerous reasons why you should say no, but I want to spend the rest of my life with you, and -” He looks into her eyes and smiles softly at her, then wipes away the tears that are streaming down her cheeks. “May Parker, will you marry me? Be my friend, my partner in all things, be my wife, please?” 

May bites her bottom lip, then nods.

“Yes?”

“Yes, Tony Stark, I will marry you. Of course I will marry you.”


	24. Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a reminder, this is an AU, so might not be what you expect. xox

“Are you sure you have to go over there?” May asks as casually as she can, as she puts a mug of coffee into Tony’s hands.

“I have to anyway, I have to run diagnostics on Vision, and Rhodey probably has his hands full -”

“At least take Peter.”

“Peter is at school." He looks at his watch and mutters, "he's in German class. He’s not ready to deal with Steve yet, May. Peter is strong, and got in a few decent licks on him in Germany, but Steve isn’t the same guy even from six months ago. I think they would get along if -”

“He nearly killed you.”

“I nearly got him killed a few times. Siberia was -. We have history, May, and I need to try to -”

“You need to try to -?”

“I need to try to, I don’t know - help him? He didn’t have what I’ve had for the last six months. The woman he loved back in the 40s died recently, and he nearly lost what’s left of his best friend again. I have everything he can’t have, May, and I don’t even want to think how I would -”

May shakes her head at him, but kisses his forehead and whispers, “you’re a good man, Tony Stark.”

“I don’t know about that -” Tony shrugs and looks away. She rolls her eyes and gently takes his face in her hands.

“You are a good man, Tony. Don’t ever let anyone make you feel like you are anything less.”

“May -”

“Go on. I do understand, it may take Peter some time -”

“In a different world, they would like each other.”

“Well, maybe they will in this one. Peter pays attention to what you do, even if he doesn't always listen. He knows the hard decisions you’ve had to make; you’re the best teacher he could have, you know.”

“Damn, May, now I just want to -”

“Later, love. Go.”

Tony sighs, finishes his coffee, then gets to his feet and kisses her once, twice and a third time before he whispers against her lips, “I larb you, Sweet-pea.”

“Ditto. If you don’t go now -” He kisses her forehead and she sighs. “Just be safe.”

“I will.” He kisses her once more, then walks to the door, and opens it, then blows her a kiss before he closes the door behind him. She shakes her head as she can hear him singing down the hallway.

“Be so careful, love,” she breathes out, then looks around the apartment and tries to decide where to start. “Boxes first, May. One step at a time.”

 

"Nat."

"Stark." She glances up from the breakfast Rhodey has just put in front of her and tries to figure out what she can say to him, then shrugs and clears her throat. "You look good."

"And you look like crap, Romanoff."

She manages a smirk and nods at the seat across from her. "It was, hmm, nice what you did for us, for Cap, last night. You didn't have to."

"You know I did." He drops into the seat, and is about to ask if she has heard from Banner when a noise makes him turn around. "Bruce."

"Tony. Hey. I hear you -"

"She said yes."

Natasha and Bruce smile brightly at him and he wishes he could be the same jerk he'd been before, but he isn't sure how to anymore. "Look. I -"

Bruce shakes his head. "We're fine, Tony, it's Cap you need to talk to - he's out running laps."

"Same old -"

"No. He knew you were coming here today and he just paced all night, he doesn't need much sleep, problem is, he doesn't sleep at all. When he does fall asleep -"

"Hell. Nightmares?"

Natasha nods. "...and you know him, he just internalizes it all. He's from your father's generation, except he doesn't drink or smoke -"

"Yeah. Right. Well, if anything happens, at least Banner here can run Vision's diagnostics. Vision needs a bit of the Banner touch anyway, he's a bit too much like me, unfortunately, and he's picking up on Rhodey's habits, but he is learning how to cook, which is a good - yeah, I'm going."

 

Tony walks outside and breathes in the crisp November air, then follows the path to the track and spots Steve flying around the oval, but even from this distance, he can see there is something a bit off about him. He groans and makes his way to the gate that is never locked, if anyone is stupid enough to mess with anyone who would use this track, they only had themselves to blame. He closes the gate behind him, and settles on a bench to watch the blurr that is Steve pass by him, then stop short fifty yards away. He turns and jogs back over, and he's barely breathing hard at all when he drops next to Tony on the bench. He picks up his water bottle, then changes his mind, and puts it down carefully.

"Awkward," Steve mutters and runs his fingers through his hair.

"You're welcome to stay as long as you want. I meant what I said last night, this place was built for you, for all of you."

"Ross?"

"Don't worry about him."

"Tony."

"Steve, this is stupid. Damn, I've never been good at this stuff. If I had -"

"No. I was arrogant to think -" Steve gets up and paces in front of Tony, unable to look at him. "I should have -"

"You were stuck between loyalty to your friend and to the rest of us. No, let's be honest, you had to choose between your friendship with Barnes and whatever loyalty you thought you owed me. We were never friends, I mean - I had thought. I always had your back, tried to at any rate, when I wasn't being an ass, and trying to do everything my way. We don't need to review our history, do we? We can hash it all out, if you want to - I'll have to go into the workshop and see if any of my old suits will fit, it's been months since I wore one, and I've eaten too much of May's meatloaf - so -"

"Stop."

"Sorry."

Steve stops pacing and glares at Tony. "See? What the hell, Stark? I should be apologizing to you, and you..." His words trail off and he suddenly grins at him. "Peter. The kid you were with last night. Queens. He's the Spider-kid, from the airport."

Tony nods.

"He must hate me."

"He doesn't understand."

"What is there to understand, Tony? I nearly took your head off, then - how can you even -?"

"I don't have the time or the inclination to hate you or Barnes anymore. I did, I really, honestly hated both of you for those, what was it, eight minutes? I don't even know how long - maybe five minutes? I thought I hated my father, but no - I don't think I've hated anyone as much as I hated the two of you then, I felt like I had gone crazy. I lost all sense of myself, who I thought I was supposed to be. I know it's easy to say now, but if you had just -"

"What? Told you that my best friend, the only family I had left, had killed your parents? You were in no shape back then, Tony, to hear that. I thought if I could fix it - show you. Prove to you. But you never should have found out that way, and I honestly didn't know he had done it until after he was wanted for the bombing. You were already up to your neck in red tape, and I was afraid -"

"You never trusted me."

"Not like I trusted Bucky."

"No, I get that. I've known Rhodey since I was three, and I had to watch him crash in front of me, for a minute I thought I had killed my best friend -"

"I went into the water in '44 certain that I had helped kill mine."

They sit in silence for a few minutes until Tony blinks up at the sky and rolls his eyes. "Snow. Figures. Look, as far as I'm concerned, you guys are where you should be. The rooms Rhodey put you in are clean, 'Big Brother' thinks you are in Asia somewhere, meditating with Buddhist monks."

Steve laughs, and shakes his head. "Seriously?"

"They see what they want to see, or what I want them to see at any rate." Tony grins, then shivers. "I'm going in. I have work to do, don't wear yourself out, hmm?"

Steve watches as Tony gets to his feet, then offers him his hand. "I am sorry, Tony."

"Yeah, me too, Steve, me too." He shakes Steve's hand then looks into his eyes. "Do me a favor, come inside with me, and go take a nap. Nat's worried about you, and you know what she's like when she worries."

Steve groans and mutters, "a real pain in the ass."

"Language, Cap."

"Stark. It can't be this simple."

"It can be. It's up to you. But, I can always see if I have a spare suit I can squeeze into and we can go another round if that would make you feel better."

Steve shakes his head, and picks up his water bottle, then turns towards the well-lit common area and sees the dining table begin to fill up with his friends. "Never thought we'd be back here. So, did she say yes?"

"Yeah, Cap, she did."

"She must be something special."

"Yeah, she is."


	25. Chapter 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> not really angst, or fluff, somewhere in between...

"Hey. It's me."

May breathes out a sigh of relief and can't help but smile. "Hey, you."

"No blows were exchanged."

"That's good."

"I have some work to do, and thought I'd stay for lunch, and then I'll be home."

"I'll be waiting."

"I love you."

"Love you, too."

 

Tony turns to find Bruce standing there, studying him.

"Hey."

"Vision is -"

"It's like raising a toddler, or what I imagine raising a toddler would be like."

"He is remarkable."

"You think so?"

"Had the best conversation with him last night."

"Yeah? I'm going down to the workshop, want to come?"

"Sure."

They walk in silence to the workshop. Tony punches in the code and switches the lights on.

"Rhodey wasn't kidding. You really haven't been working."

"Needed time."

"Listen. I'm sorry I wasn't here."

"Which side?"

"What?"

"If you had been here, which side would he have taken?"

Bruce blinks at him and sees the pain in Tony's face. "Tony."

"Bruce. It's no one's fault, no, it's everyone's. It's like you said the day we met. We were never a team. Just a volatile chemistry experiment and it blew up in our faces."

"I don't know, to tell you the truth, but he is the one who caught you in New York, remember? Got you to wake up when we thought you were dead. So -"

"Shit, Bruce. I'm sorry."

"I still don't know how we work, he and I, us. Whatever it is. He definitely has his own psychology. But I think he's forgiven you for what happened - back before Sokovia. You did what you had to do. I just - guess I, we needed time too."

"You and Nat?"

"We're okay. She's still working on forgiving me. She understands, but she's not ready to trust me yet."

"She's one to talk."

"Tony. She was trying to - I dunno. She did what she thought was right at the time, and she knows you were doing the same. Steve had to tell her what happened in Siberia and she still won't talk to him." He looks over at the remains of the damaged armor and swears. "I knew it had been bad, but -"

"Bruce. I don't want to - Steve and I are trying to get past it, if everyone else could just try to, I don't know. I just about killed him, too. I wasn't innocent in this, I wanted to kill Barnes, wanted him dead, Bruce. I hadn't really felt that before, before it was completing a mission, getting the job done. I had never wanted to kill someone before. Steve saw it in my face, and he was mostly defending his friend. I don't want to do this anymore, Bruce. I have a life now. A real life, for the first time, and I'm not willing to sacrifice it, her, them. I know what I saw when Wanda was messing with my brain, and I don't really know what it means, but I'm not letting it control how I live my life anymore. If someone else wants to wear the armor -"

"No one else -"

"Hell, Bruce. Anyone can be him, no one would know the difference."

"You know that's not true."

Tony looks at his friend and offers him a smile that doesn't get anywhere near his eyes. "I just can't anymore, Bruce."

"Yeah, I know. I know, Tony." He pauses, then clears his throat and changes the subject. "I ran the diagnostics on Vision, everything looks good."

"Great. Thanks. Listen, I was going to hang around, stay for lunch, but I need to go home."

"Tony?"

"I'll be back later, I just really can't be here right now. Tell Nat - hell, I'll text her. I just need to go."

"Yeah." Bruce watches as Tony walks to the hidden door he had installed himself in case he ever got trapped in the workshop and needed another way out, then turns back to nod at him before he leaves the building. "Damn."

 

Tony gets into his car and tries to catch his breath, when his phone buzzes.

Meet me later? Anywhere you want, any time. Your call. - Nat

Tony sighs and closes his eyes, but finds his fingers are still working.

Lila's. Italian place. Rhodey knows where it is. Just you. 7 tonight. - T

Thanks. - Nat

 

He puts his phone away, then changes his mind and pulls it out again.

"It's me again."

"Tony, what's wrong?"

"I'm on my way home, anything you need?"

"Just you."

"You got me. Be home soon."

"Love you."

"Love you, Sweet-pea."


	26. Chapter 26

May looks up from her laptop when she hears the door close, and waits for him to walk in the room. She knows she needs to wait for him to come to her, she can't -

"Hey." He looks stunned. Stunned and exhausted.

"Love?"

"Are you busy right now?" He blinks as he sees the stacks of moving boxes beginning to pile up around the small apartment and he lets out a low whistle. "Right. Damn. Can you, we, just go to bed?"

"Yeah." She saves her work and closes her laptop, then gets up from the table and takes his hand in hers, and his face changes. "You're okay, love."

He nods and she leads him to their room, and as has become their ritual when he just can't think anymore, she sits him on the edge of the bed and removes his shoes, then helps him to stretch out on the bed. She takes off her ridiculous bunny slippers - the first gift he'd given her - and places them next to his shoes, then climbs into bed next to him. He rolls over and moves until he's tucked against her, and she wraps herself around him, feeling him trying to get closer to her makes her heart hurt and she wants to ask, but she knows when he's ready, he will tell her if he needs to. For now, he needs to sleep. 

"I need to wake up by 6," he mumbles against her chest.

"Okay. Larb you."

"Larb you, too, Sweet-pea." She kisses his hair then pulls the blanket over them and curls around him again, as she hears his breathing change and knows he is already asleep, but it is not the peaceful rest from the last few weeks, but the restless sleep of the broken man who landed in her life months ago. "Damn."

Three hours later, he opens his eyes and looks at her. "May."

"Yeah?"

"What would you want to do if you could do anything?"

She narrows her eyes at him and he tries again. "If you could have something, like a bakery or toy store, coffee shop -"

"Bookstore. But one of those musty used and rare bookshops, that only a few people know about, so I can sit around and read all the books I've never read and reread all the ones I've read and write all day if I want to and - why? Tony? What is it?" She sits up as he jumps out of bed and is madly hopping around on one foot, then the other, trying to get his shoes on. "What on earth -?"

He smiles at her and kisses her in a way that makes her toes curl, then pulls away and as he is dashing out of the door, he turns and grins at her and says, "meet me at Lila's after Peter gets home, bring him with you. God - I love you, May Parker." And he's gone. 

She falls back into bed and closes her eyes, and for the first time wonders what the hell she has gotten herself into. "May, girl... what the hell?" She rolls onto his pillow, and breathing in his scent manages to sleep for an hour before Peter bangs into the apartment.

"May? Sorry - I didn't mean to wake you. Did Tony go over there today? Is he okay?"

"Yeah, I think it went okay with Steve - uhm, I'm not sure. But he asked us to meet him at Lila's when you got home."

"Awesome. Should I bring my stuff?" 

"Why not, you can always work on your homework." She is still confused by whatever had changed Tony's mood, but decides just to trust him, and she somehow knows that he's okay. She's not sure how she knows, but she does. Damn, being in love has made you - "Peter! Let's go."

They grab the first cab they see and ten minutes later, they see Tony shaking hands with someone who has that polished realtor look about her. May and Peter jump out of the cab and Tony grins at them. "May and Peter. This is Becky -"

"Tony Stark, what did you do?"

He takes her hand and drops an ancient set of keys into her palm and wraps her fingers over them. "Consider it an early Christmas present." He kisses her forehead and Becky seems to have vanished into thin air. May shakes her head and looks at the door of the shop two doors from Lila's. "Tony?"

"It's yours, ours."

"The bookshop?"

"The building."

"You bought us a building?" May whispers.

"Lila is getting older, I want to be closer to her, and she still has so much to teach Pete, there is a beautiful, old apartment upstairs, it will need some work, but -"

May walks over to the door and puts the key into the lock and turns it carefully and as she opens the door, she closes her eyes as the scent of old books nearly brings her to her knees. She closes the door again and locks it, then turns and strides over to him, throwing her arms around him as she presses her cheek to his chest. "I didn't know. When you got home today -"

"I'm done, May. Today, I realized I'm done being Iron Man, and I wanted to give you, give us something that would make you happy. You. You don't know what you've given me, May. These last few months. You and Peter. I thought - I was so lost, I didn't know what I was without the suit, without a mission - and now I know I don't need it anymore. I want us to get married at Christmas."

"Christmas?" May whispers. "But it's the middle of November."

"I know."

"Do you know -" She looks into his eyes, and sees him. All of him, for the first time; his brilliance, his kind heart, and his wild, unbroken spirit and her heart feels like it will implode. "Yes. Christmas."

May turns to look at Peter, and he hasn't blinked for a full minute. "Peter?"

"Huh? Yeah? What?"

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I think so? Is this - my new neighborhood?"

Tony grins at him. "I thought it was close enough to the old one -"

"And we're going to live next door to Lila?"

Tony nods. "Sorry, I should've asked both of you first, but I couldn't help myself -"

Peter wraps his arms around Tony and holds on for a long moment. "It's perfect, Dad - shit."

"Language, kiddo. It's fine, Pete, Dad is -" He looks over at May and sees her eyes start to shine, before the tears spill down her cheeks. "Dad is just - perfect. Come on, let's go tell Lila, and you've got homework -"

"Awwww, but, Daaaaad..." Peter smirks, then starts laughing as he buries his face into Tony's chest.

"Love you, Pete."

"Yeah, love you, too."


	27. Chapter 27

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> enter Nat...

Natasha pauses before she walks into the brightly lit and bustling restaurant, unsure that she is at the right place. But, it seems to be the only Italian place on the block, so she makes her way to the bar and sits on the only open bar stool, and clears her throat as the bartender smiles at her.

"Hi, what can I get you?"

"Uhm, hmm, Tony asked me to meet him here at 7?"

"Right, he told me you were coming, he's in the kitchen, deep in the weeds at the moment, Lila got slammed, and her regular staff needed a hand, so he'll be out in a bit. Can I get you a drink?"

"Tony. Stark... cooking?"

"He's quite good. If you're hungry, the lasagna is amazing -"

"Sure, why not?" Nat grins and she realizes this is the woman he has fallen in love with. "You're May."

"And you're Natasha. Peter couldn't stop talking about you when he got home from Germany."

"Peter?"

May excuses herself to walk into the kitchen. "Need a lasagna, Tony, and Natasha's here." Natasha hears Tony mutter something back and May returns with a steaming bowl of lasagna and she realizes how hungry she really is. "Something to drink?" 

"Whatever IPA you have on tap." May nods and pulls her a pint and places a coaster down on the bar before putting the drink in front of her. Natasha leans over her bowl and takes a deep breath in, and she can't remember when she's smelled something quite so good. 

"Italian sausage. Lila still makes it herself."

"Really?" Nat takes a bite and closes her eyes. "Damn." 

"LANGUAGE!" She can hear Tony bellow from the kitchen doorway and he offers her a smile. "Nat. Eat up, it will be a few more minutes before we can talk. If you need to get back, we can do this another time. You met May, then?"

"Yeah, I met May. I'll wait for you to finish."

"Great! Order up! Let's go, come on, kiddo, we need more fettuccine."

May watches Natasha demolish the food in front of her, then takes the bowl away and replaces it with a plate of garlic bread. "Oh, man..." She can't remember the last time she was just able to sit down and eat without worrying about something, and it feels like she can actually breathe again, even surrounded by a roomful of people she doesn't know. May grins at her, and she knows she must have the dopiest look on her face and she really just doesn't care at all. 

"Be right back," May says and Natasha nods at her, and the woman who must be Lila takes May's place.

"You are Natasha?" 

"I am."

"I am Lila, but you may call me Mama Lila. Eat up, you are much too thin - I worry about you young people. Not enough time to enjoy the good things."

"No, you're right about that. This bread -"

"Tonio and Peter. The two of them -" She looks back in the direction of the kitchen and shakes her head. "I swear they can read each other's minds, they work like a machine together. He's such a good teacher, patient."

"Tony? Patient?"

Lila looks at her and studies her for a moment. "He is learning, too. It's a good teacher who knows he is not done learning. You need dessert, young lady. Hmm... tiramisu?"

Natasha bites her lip and nods.

"Very good. I will be right back."

Natasha finishes her pint and listens to the sounds from the kitchen, she can just hear Tony's voice and a younger one answering back, she closes her eyes and concentrates, she remembers the voice - but it had been slightly muffled. The kid - Tony's secret weapon, he had brought him from - "Tiramisu. Another pint, dear?"

She shakes her head. "No, thank you." She sighs and picks up her spoon, then mutters, "this looks absolutely terrible for me."

Lila laughs, and nods at her. "Yes, but worth it."

Natasha takes a bite and rolls her eyes. "Don't tell me -"

"Tonio."

"I'm gonna -"

"You're gonna, what, Romanoff?"

She turns and looks at her friend and shakes her head. "Hey, Stark."

"We're caught up for a couple minutes, there's a table in back - just bring it with you, yeah?"

Natasha smiles at Lila, and picks up the bowl and follows Tony to an empty table then sits down across from him.

He studies her face for a moment then nods. "Bruce told you."

She nods. "Mama Lila?"

"I've known her since I was four. You need to talk to him. Steve."

"Tony." She narrow her eyes at him, then nods and takes another bite of dessert. "Public place. Smart. You know I won't -"

"You won't- ? No, I was planning on having a beer with you at the bar, but Lila got slammed and she needed my help, our help -"

"Peter."

"What about him?"

"He's the Spider-guy, from the airport."

"Fury doesn't know a thing about him, and I intend to make sure -"

"I won't tell him. But, he would be a great -"

"Say 'asset' Romanoff, and I'm done talking."

"Alright, he's just got -"

"Mad skills, and he's fine where he is. In high school. He does his thing around the neighborhood, if he wants to do more later, that's his choice. I'll do my best to talk him out of it."

"Good." She takes another bite and sighs happily. "Why did I not know you could make food like this?"

"Seriously, Nat, you need to -"

"He told me what he did. I had no idea that Bucky - I'm so sorry, Tony."

Tony clears his throat and tries again. "He needs you and Bruce, and he needs to be able to - Nat. You know him better than anyone. He was defending Bucky, and I - we both went too far. I was already inactive before the Accords, even if I had been there with you in Lagos, it probably wouldn't have changed the outcome, Cap -"

"May is lovely." She puts down her spoon and smiles at him, as he blushes slightly. "You've done enough. You deserve some happiness. I know you've been trying to be done for a while now, almost from the time you started. I'll miss having you to argue with -"

"I'll be around -"

She shakes her head and picks up her spoon again. "No. You won't. Bruce will take care of Vision, Vision's pretty close to self-sufficiency as it is. Rhodey will hold down the fort, he's good at the diplomacy stuff and the paperwork, the part you always hated. You have a real family now, Tony, and from what I can tell, they are doing a good job of letting you take care of them, and they love you. I know you've always felt you had to go above and beyond to prove you were good enough. You've always been enough. You are irreplaceable, Tony Stark, no one will ever be you again. But you've done enough. Cap will be fine. It will take time, but we will get through it, you can always come to the compound and tinker, there will always be a parking spot with your name on it, but I don't think we'll be seeing you that much -"

"Dad -"

Natasha looks up at Peter and he stops short. "Natasha Romanoff. Wow. Just want to say -"

She holds out her hand to him and she can tell he's still learning how to control his strength, as he takes her hand. "The honor was mine, Mr. Parker."

"You're always welcome here, Nat."

"Yeah? Not sure if I can afford to eat this well too often."

"We'll teach you how to cook." Peter smiles at her and Natasha grins back as Tony rolls his eyes but nods.

"You're on. I'm going to finish this and then I need to head back. It's nice to see you happy, Stark."

"Thank you, Nat, for everything."

She shakes her head, and meets his eyes. "No, Tony, Thank you."


	28. Chapter 28

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve meets Lila...

Steve approaches the woman who is shoveling the last bits of snow from outside the darkened restaurant and clears his throat. She looks up, and smiles at him, as if she has been expecting him.

"May I, Ma'am?"

"It's Mama Lila, son. I'm just about finished up here, you need some coffee, and I was about to put some on. Come on in." He hesitates for a moment, then follows her in. She flips the light switches and the room comes to life, and he finds himself a little surprised that Tony would find home in a place like this. It feels like the places he had grown up in. He turns and sees the old fashioned cash register and can't help but smile, not a computer in sight.

"Hungry?"

He knows how the conversation will go, no matter what he says, he knows she will make sure she eats before he leaves, so he says nothing and drops into a seat at the bar and waits for her to come out of the kitchen with a piece of pie and a glass of milk. "You look like a pie kind of fella. It's apple, if that will do."

"Ma- thank you, Mama Lila. You know -"

"Of course I know who you are. And I know about you and Tonio. No, he didn't tell me, didn't have to. I met Natasha a few days ago, I'm thinking the two of you are better now, hmm?"

Steve shakes his head, then nods. "I wanted to thank him, but I wonder if it's just better if I leave him alone."

She searches his face, then looks outside as a moving truck pulls up in front of the restaurant. "I think once you are done with the pie and at least one cup of coffee, I think you can thank him by helping him unload the truck that just pulled up." Steve turns to look out the window and sees Peter jump out of the cab of the truck then offer a woman, May, he assumes, his hand and helps her down. "I think he could use a bit of muscle today, you know how cops get about parking rigs like that for too long. No- sit tight and eat. He doesn't do anything before coffee." Sure enough, two minutes later, Tony is walking into the restaurant, cursing under his breath then stops as he sees Steve sitting at the bar.

"Steve."

Steve nods as he finishes up his pie, and Tony settles into the seat next to him, and smiles at Lila as she puts a piece of pie and a cup of coffee in front of him, then winks at him and goes back into the kitchen, and puts on the radio. Tony laughs then takes a sip of coffee. "She's never been subtle."

"She -"

"has saved my life almost as many times as you have. I grew up here. Must take you back."

"Yeah, it does. I was looking for you. Nat and I talked. We're good, at least better, and I know it's because of you, so thank you. You're sure -"

"Yeah, Cap, I'm sure. I was done a long time ago. I think you knew that."

Steve nods at him and picks up his mug of coffee.

"Can I ask a favor, though?"

Steve looks over at him and nods. "Just ask it."

"Peter -"

"I'll always have his back, Tony."

Tony studies his face, then nods, as he knows truth when he hears it. "Thanks, Cap."

"Need a hand with the truck?"

"I may have a few screws loose, but I'm not crazy enough to turn down an offer like that." Tony offers Steve his hand and Steve grabs his arm and holds on for a long moment, then lets go. "Let me just finish my coff -"

May and Peter walk towards them and Tony rests his hand on Steve's arm as he can sense the tension in him as he stands up. "Cap. You have to let it go."

"Hey, Brooklyn." 

"Queens." Steve replies with a nod, and Peter nods in return, then walks into the kitchen.

"Steve, this is May Parker. May, Steve."

"It's an honor, Ma'am." He offers May his hand and she rolls her eyes as she gives him a hug.

"It's May. I heard you're going to help unload that bad boy out there, we appreciate the help."

"May -"

"Steve. I know it is going to sound mad, but without you -" her voice falters, but she looks at him and shrugs. "I need coffee." Then she turns and heads for the kitchen.

"Tony."

"We're square, Steve. I need us to be okay. I need you to be okay. I know I am lucky to have what I have now, and I wouldn't have it without you. I probably wouldn't even be here at all. Time after time, you brought me home in mostly one piece. You're a good man, Cap. They - the team needs you to make them a team again, and I know you can do it, and you'll do it better without having to fight me all the time."

"I'll miss -"

"Yeah, I'll miss some of it too. But it's not worth it anymore. I have too much to lose now." He put down his mug, and looks up at Steve. "Ready?"

"Yeah, Stark. Let's do this."

Tony laughs as he punches Steve lightly on the shoulder then walks back outside, without waiting for him to follow.

Lila comes out of the kitchen and winks at Steve and he shakes his head. "Thank you."

"No, Captain Rogers, thank you."

He smiles at her, then pulls his jacket back on and heads out to the truck as the snow begins to fall again.


	29. Chapter 29

May can't remember that she's ever been happier in her life as the three of them slowly build a new home together. Peter tries to get out of going to school so he can help Tony with renovating the apartment, or learn new recipes from Lila, but Tony takes him to school himself every day, then returns home to see how he can help her in the bookshop, when he's not swearing at the long dead electricians over the tangled mess he has found in the walls; or they spend the morning wrapped up in each other's arms, discussing the wedding that is soon approaching, until they drift off to sleep for a few hours.

But Tony's been having nightmares again.

 

"Hey, May, how is everything going?"

"Nat, are you busy?"

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, it's -"

"Tony."

"Lila's made your favorite cheesecake -"

"Give me an hour."

"Thanks, Nat."

 

Natasha walks into Lila's and finds May in the kitchen as she is prepping for the rush they expect that night. "Hey May. Mama Lil'." She gives the older woman a kiss on the cheek, then smiles as she sees her already cutting healthy slabs of the cheesecake Nat would live on if she could.

"Tasha," Lila looks up and smiles at her, then shakes her head as she can tell Natasha's been sparring with Cap again. "Hope he got as good as he gave? The two of you -"

"Yeah, I know, I zigged when I should have zagged. May?"

"Lila-?"

"Go on."

 

"What's up, May?"

"The last three days... he's not sleeping. I know it's a big change for him, even though we've basically lived together for over half a year now, he always had his place to go to when -"

"It's not you."

"He seems happy otherwise. He and Peter are working on drawing up a design for a new suit, when they aren't tearing the place apart, Peter's in heaven; he's always helping me in the bookshop when he's not helping Lila - I just worry..."

Nat nods, then thanks Lila as she brings in their pieces of cheesecake and mugs of coffee, then disappears back into the kitchen. "May. He has times when he's trying to work out something in his head, and it's hard for him to talk about it until he crashes; when he's ready to tell you, he will. I know it's hard to wait for him to come to you, but, these guys, they're wired differently. For the last few years he's lived always on high alert, he always had things to work on, to keep his brain distracted, until the next mission, and now -"

"He's waiting for the other shoe to drop." 

"He'll be okay, May. I know that I've never seen him this happy, you and Peter, I saw it when I came here the first time, he's home. And I don't mean the building or even this place, you two are his life, he just has to reboot a bit, if that makes sense?" Natasha takes a bite of her cheesecake and sighs, knowing another round with Cap will be on her agenda soon.

 

"Tony?" May walks into the kitchen and finds him sitting on the floor, he's been working on installing a new floor since he got home from dropping Peter at school. He looks up at her and she knows he's finally hit his wall. "Hey, you."

"I'm so tired."

"Yeah, I know." She sits on the floor next to him and he all but topples into her lap. She runs her fingers through his hair and whispers, "I'm here, love, I'm here." 

He turns and studies her face, then whispers, "Sweet-pea -"

"Come on, love, time for bed." 

 

"Can you tell me what's going in here?" May taps his forehead as he slowly resurfaces a few hours later. "Maybe I can help."

He clears his throat and nods. "The wedding. I know I'm the one who wanted to rush -"

"Yeah, seemed a lot to try to do all at once -" 

"I still want to. It's just - I want it to be just us, you, me and Pete, here in our place, and I'm trying to get everything - and I worry - I'm not used to being this -"

"This -?"

"Happy, May. I'm just waiting - every other time in my life when I thought I had things figured out, something always happened, and I'm afraid, because I've never felt this way before -"

"I know, love. Me too. But, you do know, we're not going anywhere, right? Me and Pete, we are here for the long haul, and if you want it to just to be us, we'll do it here, out in the front room, we'll get a real tree this year, and use all the decorations I've been saving up forever. I have a cousin who can officiate, and we'll see if Lila can throw us a little reception, after Christmas, and if those insane Avenger friends of ours aren't out in the world avenging something, we'll make them your lasagna and Lila's cream cake, and we'll dance til dawn. You don't have to figure out everything on your own. I know you think if you keep going, full blast all the time, you'll outrun whatever it is. Here's the thing, you don't have to run anymore, love, we have all the time in the world. If it doesn't work out, for whatever reason, we'll do it on New Year's or on Valentine's Day, or just on a day when we feel like dressing up a bit, or not. We can just wear jeans and t-shirts. I don't care when or how we do it. No, it's not that I don't care. It's just, honestly, it would just be icing on the cake, ever since our first night at Lila's - I knew, Tony, that you loved me, and I knew, I knew then -"

Tony leans over and kisses her next words away, then whispers against her lips, "Pete at home?"

"He's over at Ned's, he's staying over there tonight - they are having an X-Files marathon -"

"Seriously?"

May grins at him and nods. "Seriously."

"So that means we're alone..."

"Uhmhmmm..."

"So, we could go finish the kitchen floor, or I can start on the bathroom... or" he grins down at her, and her fingers find the edge of his shirt and lift it over his head, letting it fall from her fingers onto the newly refinished floor, and he starts working on the buttons of her sweater. "I can show you how very much I love you, May Parker."

"Hmmm... it's a difficult decision, let me think for a moment." May squeals as he groans, then blows a raspberry on her stomach and she can't help but laugh until tears stream down her face. "I love you, too, my heart, every day, I just -"

"I know, May -" 

She hears something in his voice and she lays a finger on his lips and nods. "I think I can't love you any more, and then I fall in love with you all over again, and I can barely breathe - and I'm always a little scared that one day you'll be gone, because someone, or something bigger, or more important, needs you more than we do -"

"It will never happen. I swear, May. You and Pete are the most important part of my life. I'm not going anywhere, ever again, without you."

"Promise?"

"I promise."


	30. Epilogue (End Credit)

Tony sighs as he hears the jingle of the door, he swears he had locked it. “We’re closed.”

“Not hungry.”

“Fury.” Tony turns and looks up at the one eye, and leans the ancient broom against the bar. “Drink?”

“You buyin’?”

“What do you want?”

“Just wanted to see if the rumors were true.”

“Which rumors would those be?”

“That you finally managed to figure yourself out.”

Tony pours out a couple of doubles and pushes one in Fury’s direction.

“I’ve always known about him, your Spider-kid.”

Tony narrows his eyes and crosses his arms in Fury’s direction. 

“Relax, son. I made sure he ended up in your capable hands. You were the one he needed at the beginning, and he still needs you, always will. I’m getting too old to deal with adolescents, and you needed to prove to yourself that you weren’t Howard. Just wanted to let you know you’ve done good, kid.”

Tony downs his drink and looks at Fury, trying to read him. “Leave Pete be, Nick.”

“I will, Dad. Just know I’m keeping my eye on him. And on you.” Fury tosses back the drink then nods at Tony and walks towards the door. “Howard would have been proud of you too, Tony.”

“Thanks, Nick.”

“No, Tony. Thank you.”


End file.
